I'm an Ogretail, so what?
by Don Orbit
Summary: Being reborn sounds nice, doesn't it? Unfortunately, you don't get to choose what you get in the end. You may as well end up as a fungus or a plant. Or even as a bacteria. It still could be worse. So… why was I reborn into a world full of monsters? And on top of that as a bottom feeder of the foodchain! A short story crossover of God Eater and Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own God Eater or Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka? All rights belong to their respective owners.**

Prologue – I'm an Ogretail, so... what does that mean?

* * *

In the near future of Earth, the entire planet would face a mass extinction event even putting the biggest of them in Earth's history, the one at the Permian/Triassic border that wiped out more than 70% of all living creatures that were living at that point to shame. It wasn't a manmade event like one would think first. It was true that the pollution of nature and the influence on the individual biomes had driven many species already to extinction, but this was even bigger.

How did that happen? Well I don't know the exact details, but this is pretty much what happened.

A new kind of organism was discovered when people investigated drill cores to find mineral oil and gas. These microscopic being were named "Oracle Cells" by their discoverers. They held the key to mankind's biggest problem at that point. Due to the depletion of fossil resources such as mineral oil and coal, mankind was facing the fundamental problem of energy shortage.

However only months after the discovery of the Oracle Cells, they revealed a second and much more terrifying aspect of themselves. On the XX X in 2050, everywhere on the planet massive earthquakes shook the lithosphere as massive spires erupted from the ground, destroying everything in their path. One whole day this chaos went on until it stopped and mankind hoped that they could rebuilt their destroyed infrastructure.

They didn't get far when out of the earth the first of a new kind of monster emerged. These beings were in truth nothing more than cell colonies of Oracle Cells, devouring everything in their path and making no difference between their prey whether it was an animal, a plant, a rock or even a human.

Mankind tried to fight back but not even unconventional weapons such as nuclear warheads showed any sort of effect against this threat as they kept constantly evolving and adapting to whatever strategy they were using. Due to their habit to resemble mythological beings and their apparent invincibility plus an insatiable hunger these monsters were therefore called Aragami, meaning as much as Raging Gods.

Mankind survived but just barely as over the years the Aragami became the dominant species on the planet and now roamed the land.

Within a destroyed city somewhere in what used to be Japan, the sound of chewing and flesh tearing apart could be heard. Laying on its side was a large saber tooth tiger like Aragami. This was a Vajra, a strong and large type Aragami that one wouldn't want to meet alone in the dark.

However, the Aragami had recently died and now smaller ones were devouring its corpse. These creatures resembled some sort of hybrid between an ostrich, a shark, a dinosaur and maybe a bit of a hedgehog. They walked on two avian legs with two claws on their feet. Their skin was dark and a tuff of spiky beige hair grew on their back. Their heads resembled the face of a shark as a large mouth with many teeth and two prominent tusk like face jutted out of it. The most prominent feature was the large flat tail which seemed to resemble a demon's face.

They were called Ogretails and they were by far the weakest of all Aragami. They were basically the bottom feeders of this food chain as hunting wasn't really an option with every other Aragami being stronger than themselves. So they had to stick to being carrion eaters. And they usually appeared in packs.

The group of 3 was tearing through the dead Vajra, but was so immersed in their task that they didn't saw a second and very alive Vajra walking up towards them, before it was too late. The large feline Aragami pounced the Ogretails and tore them apart with unmatched strength.

As this carnage took place, a gaping hole in a close by ruin of what probably one have been an apartment block provided shelter for another Ogretail as it was watching silently the one-sided slaughter of its own kin, questioning how it came that its own sort of Aragami wasn't extinct yet as it laid on its belly flat on the ground.

Yup that's me. An ogretail like those that just get eaten by that overgrown cat. Why am I not jumping out to help them when ogretails were supposed to be social Aragami? Very simple. I'M NOT SUICIDAL!

Just look at the size of that thing! It literally stepped on an Ogretail as if it was a snail or a bug or something like that without paying it any mind! I don't want to know what this kitty usually plays with!

Yeah, but no. I'm not going out there.

You may seem confused. How come that I was sentient or was talking to you in the first place right now. Well it all began some time ago. Or rather it began this morning.

I used to be a normal human being or at least I think I was. I don't really recall much of my past to be honest. I don't even know whether I was a boy or a girl or if I was old or young.

Anyways, I remember walking out in the morning and along the street when I saw how some child was chasing after their ball. Normally I couldn't care less about that, but the child ran on the street when suddenly a truck up into view. My body acted faster than my brain as I ran up to the child and pushed it out of the way, before realizing that I was caught in the headlights of the truck.

After that there was just darkness. I didn't hear the crash or the brakes of the truck. I didn't hear anyone shouting or screaming, but it was pretty clear what had happened. Or at least I think that was what happened. I can recall this event, but most of my other memories are gone including my name, how I looked like or my family. These memories were just missing.

So yes, the infamous truck-kun incident. That's what children get for not watching left and right when crossing a road. I get it, alright?! So here I was dead and… well dead.

I can't really describe that as well as I don't remember the period between my two lives all that well. All I can say was that it was dark and other than my own self-awareness I couldn't make anything out.

Well, that was until I suddenly burst out of the ground as an Ogretail. You understand that Aragami are not born like usual animals. Upon dying their bodies disperse into oracle cells, which then can form a new core at any time. When the core is formed other cells are drawn towards it and form the body before the newborn Aragami bursts from the ground as if it was an egg.

Now that I think about it, it sounded like it was straight out of one of those light novels. What was the genre called again? Doesn't matter! Back to what happened afterwards.

This time was probably the hardest in my entire existence so far. I had two legs, but I was constantly leaning forward and balancing my body with an equally long tail, which had a rather heavy bone plate on it. Try to walk straight like that on the first try without falling over at least 20 times!

After finally getting a grip on my new body I managed started to explore the ruins of the city around me. I had no idea where exactly I was as all sorts of signs or text boards were missing or destroyed over the years safe for a few pieces of junk that some Ogretails were actually eating.

Speaking of my relatives, after exploring a little I stuck around a few more fellow Aragami of the same race as me as it seemed safer. Safety in numbers as one might say. I even got to see what the others and by extension myself were capable off such as jumping really high and shooting those spikes on my tail.

Well and then I got to see what Ogretails were eating when we arrived at the carcass of that Vajra. I immediately felt sick when I watched the first one taking a bite out of its dark flesh and ran off into the first ruin to not throw up at this idea. I really had to sit down or rather lay down for this.

It was just felt… disgusting and wrong for me!? The others didn't seem to mind me though as they began happily tearing into that carcass. I swear, those sounds will haunt me in my dreams…

And you already know how this turned out...

Speaking of which, I looked outside to see that the Vajra had finished the other Ogretails as it now turned to leave. The corpses of the Ogretails and the already dead Vajra dispersed into oracle cells. It did look beautiful to watch their bodies glow in golden and amber colors, before the oracle cells floated as mots of light into the air dispersing and the bodies disintegrating.

Farewell, my brothers. I may never forget you, despite having only been around you for an hour or so and not really having made any good memories with you. I would salute to you, but… I do lack arms so you'll understand that.

Okay! Enough of this sentimental stuff. It was time to get started. Thanks to what just happened before my very eyes, I understand now the utter powerlessness of my kind. Also that pit in my stomach only seemed to grow by the minute. I already felt how my stomach was basically rebelling against me. Still chewing on those rocks was probably not the best alternative so I may as well look around for something to eat. Yes! That sounded more like a plan.

Step 1: Get something to eat.

Step 2: Finding out what the hell was going on.

Step 3: Deciding what to do next depending on the result of Step 2.

Alright, let's do this! My course is set so let's set those sails/fins on my head as well.

I was about to move from my spot, to stand up and get outside again, but suddenly a large scorpion like Aragami appeared to be fighting the Vajra as it pushed the feline Aragami into a building right across the wide open space.

Huh? What the hell?

I took a closer look at this new Aragami. Its upper body resembled a knight with a brown furry cape on its back, while its lower half was a scorpion. And it was even taller than the Vajra. Its body ended in a long tail even longer than its actual body with a large lance like stinger at the end.

The Vajra roared in defiance as tried to bite the other Aragami only for its teeth to fail to breach through the thick black armor, before being pushed away. Then several helmet like spikes around the knight's head took off like missiles and hit the Vajra and actually exploded upon impact, as the other Aragami roared in pain.

God, this thing looks so cool! No wait! This isn't the time for this. I better stay in here, before I get caught in this crossfire.

The Vajra pounced the scorpion knight again, but to no avail. Neither its fangs nor its sharp claws did any significant damage. There was damage, but I'd call it nothing more than actually being cut by a sheet of paper.

Then suddenly, the scorpion's chest opened revealing a large mouth with sharp teeth as it bit down and tore off one of the Vajra's capes. The sabertooth tiger roared in pain and jumped backwards before it charged its electrical attack and shot it at the man scorpion. The explosion caused tons of dust to be kicked into the air, but as it settled down one could only see a large skeleton face. The halves on the man scorpion Aragami's arms it had instead of hands had formed a shield and completely blocked the attack.

The Vajra jumped forward with teeth and claws bared to attack while the scorpion knight brought its stinger down. Blood flew through the air as the Vajra screamed in agony. With the area where normally the spine was located that was no real wonder. It managed to bite down one of the legs though as the other Aragami seemed to groan in pain.

Meanwhile I laid on my belly in my comfy ruin hideout paralyzed in fear as I watched the fight go on like a nature documentary movie from TV.

Yup, I'm not coming out.

I'm so definitely not coming out.

JUST IN WHAT KIND OF A MESSED UP WORLD HAVE I REINCARNATED INTO! AND THAT AS A WEAK MONSTER SURROUNDED BY OTHER SUPER STRONG MONSTERS?!

* * *

**Don Orbit: You have been reading the first chapter of a new short story. I hope you enjoyed it. It really is a shame that there are not many fanfictions of Kumo desu ga, Nani ka? around, but I personally admit it's not that easy to write one with own characters and- Huh? (turns as he hears banging against his repaired door)**

**(The door is broken down (again) by a familiar Ogretail.)**

**Ogretail: Wha! Who are you?**

**Don Orbit: Your creator. I'm surprised you managed to find-**

**Ogretail: YOU BASTARD!? (tries to bite the author, who jumps off his chair and runs away) GET BACK HERE! (chasing after him)**

**Don Orbit: Hey! Why are you so upset?**

**Ogretail: You are the one who made me like this, didn't you? Because of you my life is literally hell!**

**Don Orbit: (jumps to the ceiling like a spider) Oh come on. ****Being an Aragami was not that bad. **

**Ogretail: (jumping up only narrowly missing him) HOW?**

**Don Orbit: First of all, even as a shark raptor like Aragami, you are still an Aragami and therefore superior to all normal organisms on Earth in terms of strength, durability and more.**

**Ogretail: But those are almost completely gone! And all the others are stronger than me! (shoots spikes at the author as he barely manages to dodge them by moving his limbs out of the way)**

**Don Orbit: Second of all, you could eat all you want quite literally. **

**Ogretail: (stops the attempts of murdering its their maker and tilts their head) Huh?**

**Don Orbit: (continues) That means when everything you get between your teeth, can be instatnly devoured and converted into energy without having to worry about your health. No matter what it is. You can eat all sorts of ****animals, plants, People and all sorts of tasty dishes without ever getting Trouble with your body.**

**Ogretail: (starts salviating at this as it streams out of their mouth like a waterfall while daydreaming) Oh yes...**

**Don Orbit: (smiling innocently as he drops down) However, now that the world is such a desolated place you won't be able to find any of that anymore.**

**Ogretail: (torn from the day Dream) ...huh? **

**Don Orbit: (still smiling) I think the only things left to eat for Aragami, that doesn't include other Aragami or humans, are rocks...**

**Ogretail: Huh?**

**Don Orbit: (continuing) Debris, sand, soil...**

**Ogretail: Huh?!**

**Don Orbit: And human waste products such as garbage, radioactive wastes and wastewaters among other Things.**

**Ogretail: (turning slightly green) Urgh! I think I'm gonna throw up!**

**Don Orbit: See? You still have plenty to**

**Ogretail: DIE YOU SON OF A- (lungs forward)**

**Don Orbit: (grabs a Boost Hammer God Arc out of nowhere and delivers a blow to the face, smashing the reincarnated Ogretail into the floor as one can see stars swirld around their head as they are rendered unconscious) Well with that all being said and done, please leave your thoughts and ideas in the reviews or send me a PM. I'll hopefully see you next time.**

**Until then have a nice day.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1 – Hunters and Hunted...AND RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

People were discontent about their lives all the time. Some people had to work with a bunch of people they couldn't stand as they were a pile of despicable individuals of the human race. Other people were not paid enough for the jobs they were investing most of their time and energy in a year in or felt at least that they deserved more. People would leave those places to come back home or go somewhere else occassionally, while being frustrated and argue with anyone available about their Situation.

Students arguing about their bad grades despite having spent Hours to learn something only to fail at a small detail.

Policemen arguing about the criminals they arrested, while calling them scum, and what society had come to.

But in the end most of these situations were tame and not too much of a threat. Even though just as significant, it wasn't like someone was holding someone in place, dragging them into a dark alley, while holding a knife at their throats to make sure their victim made no sound as they would kill them. Most of these situation were not truly life-threatening.

I really envy such people. I envy them so much. You know why?

BECAUSE RIGHT NOW I'M RUNNING FOR MY LIFE FROM A HORDE OF ANGRY MONSTERS?!

I was not overtelling it even as I ran through the narrow streets of the devastated city. The sounds behind me reminded my constantly about my pursuers as I didn't need to turn around to tell that they were getting closer. My two legs gave everything they got as I even forgot about the aching hunger in my chest just out of the need to survive.

A hissing sound resonated through the air and instinctively I jump slightly to the side as a bullet made of compressed air shot past me and hit the wall of a ruin, reducing it to a pile of pebbles and leaving a large hole in it.

What the hell? They had ranged attacks too? This was not good. It wasn't good at all. My mind wandered back to where all of this began as I heard the breaths and roars of the aragami that were chasing me.

* * *

After the battle between the giant sabertooth tiger and the scorpion knight had been concluded with the scorpion being the winner, the larger monster withdrew into some other place as I managed to peek out of my hideout. The giant feline's body was already reduced to oracle cells floating away, making it no longer possible to salvage any of it. And I felt so hungry.

So I began wandering around once more. Of course I was walking in the opposite direction the scorpion knight had headed towards. I was not suicidal enough to actually follow that thing! Who knows what would have happened? Actually... it would be really simply to picture what would have happened. I'd have encountered that thing again and faster than I could have jumped away, I'd have been skewered on that thing's tail and eaten like a potato chip as a snack. Nope. I could definitely say that I didn't need that.

My stomach growled in protest once more at this. Well it wasn't actually my stomach _growling_ in the literal sense. I actually felt overwhelming hunger in my mind, lingering like the still waters of a lake. It wasn't like hunger should feel like. Sure when a human got hungry they felt the emptiness of their stomach and their brain reminded them that they needed to eat, but this was different. And much more aching than it normally used to be. I began asking myself whether there had ever been a time where I tried to not eat anything long enough to create such an aching feeling.

I quickly dropped the thought as I remembered that the first step of my plan was to find something to eat anyway. Plus I didn't remembered anything from my human life anyway, so thinking about something from that past was about as useless as trying to Punch a wall when you don't have arms like I do now.

And to be honest, if it would make me understand the Situation clearer, I would actually do that. Seriously, what was all of this? I had no idea why I was suddenly a weak monster in apost apocalyptic world with only giant monsters roaming around that devour one another. I feel like someone owes me an explanation here. But who was I even kidding when I didn't even had the ability to speak. I tried. I actually tried talking normally while I was wandering around after the fight, but nothing but short roars, growls and hisses escaped my large jaws.

After a while I dropped my attempts to speak properly again as another wave of hunger hit my body and mind even stronger than the previous ones. It was giving me an headache. I didn't know in what intervals it would come or how much it would amplify over time, but I was sure that even if I took pride in my strong will, I'd definitely go insane sooner or later from the hunger. So I walked around the empty city in silence.

There was absolutely nothing there that I had not seen before. Giant holes in buildings as if someone had shot through them using a bullet that was several meters in diameter, old and dusty rocks, abandoned ruins of a once modern day city. All of this desolation around me made my mood sink. It wasn't just the absence of anything, including other monsters or the absence of something edible to ease my condition. It was sadness that I had felt in the picture of a formerly great city being abandoned and destroyed like this. I could perfectly picture that before whatever had caused all this there would have been thousands upon thousands of people living in this place, going to work or doing other things humans usually did.

Was mankind even alive? That question made me hesitate to walk further. Of course there was this small part of me that wanted to say yes, but seeing things as they were, I couldn't help but feel a shiver crawl up my back like a spider. And then there was the majority of my psyche that was not even caring about the fate of mankind. It was disturbing to be honest. Why was I feeling so indifferent about whether mankind had survived whatever had caused all this?

I decided to put that aside as well. This back and forth in my head wasn't going to fill my stomach and I was still hungry. So indefinitely hungry.

I walked down a narrow street. I was apparently somewhere in downtown as the ruins of apartment blocks and small stores framed the road. Unfortunately everything was just as the ruins were just as barren as the rest of the city. Not even a single path of vegetation was there and nothing that indicated life either.

That was until I arrived at the side of another ruin of an apartment block. The wall of the the building was missing and the place before me was rather large and spacious. One could probably put one of those giant cast here and it could easily walk around. Then I heard something. Instinctively my head whipped around to the source of the noise to see a stone falling down from the building. At first I'd have thought that it had been just a reaction due to the erosion that made the ruins slowly crumble away over time, but then I heard different noises. Short roars of some unknown type of creature and the sound of shuffling feet above me.

I looked up and immediately regretted my choice of a route to go to. Standing at the edge of the hole was a whole bunch of monsters, looking down at me with small eyes eyes. Their seemed to be apes with their large muscular bodies, short tails and overall primate like body type, but on the seond look one could only call them a monster. Their mouthlines stretched much further than that of a human or a regular ape's and filled with small white teeth as salvia dripped from their lipless maws. Their bodies were not covered in golden colored fur as one might suspect at first but actually golden colored armor. It was as if it was made of metal instead of bones or scales.

And unfortunately I lost count and the 20th I saw. There were dozens of them looking down at me, roaring and being impatient before one of them jumped down towards me. My legs reacted faster than my brain as I jumped back from the monkey like monster that left a crater in its wake. The monster roared in fury at me and I couldn't help but look back and forth between this monkey and the others that too began to jump or climb down. There was no way I could take all of these things on myself. Not to mention that they were slightly bigger than myself and possessed very powerful arms. Something I didn't have at all. I slightly glanced over to the route where I came from only to find at least 9 of those monkeys standing there already, effectively cutting off my escape route.

The monsters seemed to have noticed my intentions as they slowly crept closer. This was really bad. This could actually be the end of me before I even get to know what is going on. I hoped that next time I'd become something stronger than what I was right now to at least have a chance to fight back. But not today as I saw from the corner of my eye the perhaps only chance to escape. And so I charged at the 5 monkeys behind me.

The monsters seemed confused for a moment, seeing their prey suddenly charge at them without a shred of fear. Well that wasn't quite right. If I had anything in my stomach I was sure I'd be emptying my bowls in my nonexistent pants right now from the fright.

But anyway, I charged at them with a loud roar when I fired the spikes on my tail. The monkeys seemed to know that they wouldn't do them good when hit, so they jumped to the sides to evade them. One of the 5 was not fast enough and screamed out in pain as my spine punched right through the kneecap of the monster. I didn't really care as I used my tail to propel myself forward as the other monkeys behind me started to charge themselves. First I landed on the one I had just injured, crushing its red mask like face beneath my foot, before using it as a jumping pad and reach the hole of another apartment block nearby. It almost fell off as the ground beneath me caved in and I had to run quickly to not be dragged down back into the angry monkey horde.

With a last jump I shot out of the ruin and landed in the street on the other side, though landing was something else than me falling on my side and rolling over the ground until coming to a stop thanks to a wall being there to stop me. Rolling back on my feet, I turned to the apartment as the angry shouts of the monkeys rang through the air. I didn't even want to know how close that was. Even though they jumped to the side to evade my desperate attack, I knew that those 4 had pounced in my direction when I landed on their comrade. I had felt their breath at my feet when I took off and I am very positive that if it had been just a moment later, they'd have grabbed me by my tail and dragged me back down to kill me.

I didn't want to think about it, so I resumed walking down this new foreign street.

That was when suddenly a loud boom came up behind me as I had managed to put some distance between myself and the apes. I had forgotten one of the most common things about monkeys: generally they were really good in climbing. The apes had climbed up the ruin and now poured into the street like water. I didn't even need further encouragement than them suddenly showing up.

There was only one thing that I could do in a moment like this. The only appropriate thing to do in a situation was to... FLEE! I began to run again and not a second later the collective of enraged roars and thundering footsteps of an angry horde of monkey monsters resonated ever since through my ears.

And with that we have returned to the beginning of this chapter, but who cares about that? I WAS GOING TO DIE IF THIS KEPT UP!

What was these apes' problem in the first place? I was just passing by their nest! I didn't mean to wake them up!

Gah! I want to tear them into shreds, but fighting a horde of those things might as well be just a far more gruesome method to commit suicide. I really don't want to thnk about it now that I got to focus on running. Not to mention, that I was sure I couldn't run forever. Until now I haven't felt really tired as whatever I was reborn as, but I was certain that this body also had a limit.

A limit that if it was reached in a situation like this would only mean one thing for me. Certain death.

I pushed the thought out of my head as I kept running as fast as my two legs could carry me, but the apes were fast themselves and it didn't look like they were falling back. If they were just a bit faster, they'd eventually catch up to me and it would be Game Over for me. Using my tail as a spring again I managed to put some more distance between me and my pursuers, but they just didn't stop.

JUST LEAVE ME ALONE ALREADY! That's what I wanted to shout at them even though they'd not understand it.

**VRRMMM**

I heard something up ahead. A familiar sound that rang through my nonexistent ears. I knew that sound. I knew it so well I already had the picture of the object that made that sound before my mind's eye. Up ahead, the buildings stopped and a large desolated open area was spread over the land with the ruins and debris of old buildings bein the only indicators of being still in the city. Whether it had been a park or just a place that had been destroyed by the hands of time was of no concern for me. What did concern me was when I reached the exit of the city alongside my pursuers, I saw a fast vehicle driving not very far from my current position over the dusty wasteland.

A humvee. I really couldn't express how actually happy I felt in that moment. Unfortunately for me, the car was literally heading my way and if it wasn't for me running, it probably would just pass by. I really needed a distraction right now and it had just presented itself as I kept running but towards it. The car tried to dodge,, but I kept my course stubbornly towards the military vehicle. On the back of the armored car I saw a couple of young people look surprised or shocked at me and the horde of followers I had on my tail.

When the distance was about 10 meters, the car now took a sharp turn to the right to dodge and prevent a collision, so I had to take a sharp turn to the left to reach the car, before I used my tail as a spring again. For a moment it was as if I was soaring through the sky like an eagle as I looked down and saw the youths beneath me as I jumped over the van. Then I noticed that they had awfully large weapons in form of rifles and swords. Still they would be a good distraction for the apes so I did the only thing I could think off.

I literally winked at them as if saying "Good luck!", before gravity pulled my body down to the ground and I resumed running for my life. The screeching of the tires and the enraged roars of the apes told me that my plan had somewhat succeeded. Now I was not sure if all of the apes had took the bait and because of that I kept running until I managed to hide behind a wall as the last remain of building.

Finally stopping my run I took several breaths as my senses catched up with my body. I could feel how the muscles in my legs seemed to scream in protest as they ached and the heavy bone plate on my tail forced me to lay down. Goddammit, I really should have done more sports in my previous life. Then realization hit me. What if those humans were killed now because of me using them as a scape goat. A pit formed in my stomach at the thought of sacrifising these people that once were my fellow human beings.

I shook my head at this. There was no use. It was either them or me. In this world it seems like that was an unwritten rule. While it was not nice, sometimes people had to do such things to keep themselves alive. That's what I told myself to soothe the guilt in my mind.

But what were these people doing here in the first place? Judging the looks of their attire they were professionals in their job. Were they soldiers? Or maybe hunters? But what to hunt when all here was just dust, rocks and… Oh...

The sounds of gunshots and dying cries confirmed my suspicions.

They were hunting monsters.

I peered out from my hideout as I witnessed nothing, but a slaughter. A slaughter of those apes, that was.

Firing their massive rifles, their rounds blew up parts of these giant apes in an instant, making them rear up on their hind legs one last time roaring to the sky before falling to the ground unmoving. Swinging their large swords they cleaved through them as if they were paper and blood spattered to the ground from large wound. Some of the monsters fought back, throwing punches at them or pouncing at them, but their weapons had foldable shields to block incoming blows. I wasn't quite sure about my own memories, but I had the feeling that humans shouldn't be able of such a thing such as swinging a sword as big and heavy as that around or firing a gun of that size without even staggering.

This world was starting to make less and less sense to me.

I even saw how those apes used their air blast attack. They stood still for a moment and inhaled deeply, before pointing the 4 red tubes on their backs at their enemy and then the air was shot out in form of a compressed blast like a bullet. Too bad their attacks were rather predictable with first staying still like that as the humans simply blocked those attacks with their shields before rushing towards the monsters and attack them when they were still standing up.

Their blades sometimes even morphed into guns. It was actually really cool, but there was something about these weapons that was completely unnerving for me. I can't really describe it at all. When I looked at these weapons, it felt as if I had opened some sort of box, but inside was something that was completely disturbing me. And then I saw what it was. The blade suddenly retracted... and **SOMETHING** emerged from within the weapon.

It was like a serpent or a dragon as it shot out with 6 yellow eyes and a mouth filled with sharp teeth. It shot out the sort, becoming several meters long before closing its jaws around one of the apes. The monster didn't even got to let out a sound of panick as it was crushed beneath those jaws and its blood splattered across the ground. The **thing **then retracted back into sword with its black flesh turning into tendrils that were sucked back inside as the blade shot out again and the human could attack once more.

I stood there completely paralyzed in fear. So far I've already seen monsters killing and eating one another, but this... This was not a monster.

**It was an abomination.**

I kept watching completely unable to move as every last monster was slain and those **things** emerged from the weapons again, devouring the corpses and leaving nothing but blood on the ground. I quickly retracted my head once I snapped out of it. Cowering in fear, I was unable to stop my body shaking. Before the running had distracted me enough to not notice it despite having been in just as much of a life threatening situation. Even the fight between that tiger and scorpion monster had not truly done much to me.

But now... all of this primal emotion called fear rung through my system without an inhibitor to block it. Each breath I took felt like an hour. I could hear them talking, but I was in such a stress that I didn't register their words. My mind only told me that they were still there. Only with their footsteps getting further away and their car driving off, I began to calm down. I peered out again seeing only the large cloud of dust following the car.

These people were ridiculously strong…

…and they had really large guns and blades to fight those monsters with ease…

…and their weapons literally eat those monsters…

I stepped out of my hideout and saw the last traces of those monsters, that had been chasing me, disintergrate into the same orange glowing particles as they climbed up into the sky. A sudden wave of melancholy hit my mind and the feeling of hunger that had been surpassed by stress and fear had returned even stronger than before.

Today really isn't my day.

That was when suddenly a voice rang through my head.

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Aquired skill [Stealth LV 1]}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Aquired skill [Fear Resistance LV 1]}

Excuse me, what now?

* * *

**Don Orbit: (sitting on top of a certain Ogretail that was wrapped up in ducttape, making it impossible for it to move or speak as it could only wriggle around) And another cliffhanger. Sorry guys, but this is the end for this chapter.  
**

**Ogretail: HHHHMMMMPFFF!? (wriggles around more)**

**Don Orbit: (slaps the roof of the ogretail) Oh stay silent, will you?**

**Ogretail: (growls)**

**Don Orbit: Also it's not like the excercise is bad for you.**

**Ogretail: (grumbles in a mocking tone)**

**Don Orbit: You don't want me to punish you even more, do you?**

**Ogretail: (shakes around violently as the ducttape tears apart and they try to bite the author) GET IN MY BELLY!**

**Don Orbit: (jumps off and deadpans) Okay.**

**Ogretail: Don't you dare to- (pauses for a moment) Wait what?**

**Don Orbit: You're pretty hungry, aren't you?**

**Ogretail: (stomach grumbles causing their white face to turn cherry red and turn away) It's not like I want to eat something. (snaps out of tsundere mode) BUT WHO' FAULT IS IT THAT I'M CONSTANTLY IN AGONY LIKE THIS ANYWAY!?**

**Don Orbit: Okay, okay. I'll feed you. (opens a portal and reaches inside to pull out a wriggling black insect resembling something between a snail and a beetle) Here you go. (throws it at the ogretail's feet as they look at it)**

**Ogretail: (begins to salviate like a rapid dog as tears stream down their face) This is probably the nicest thing someone has ever done for me. ITADAKIMASU! (lunges at the insect and bites down only to suddenly recoil sharply and let out a pained howl) IT'S DISGUSTING!**

**System: {Proficiency has reached the required level. Aquired skill [Rot Resistance LV 1]}**

**Ogretail: SCREW YOU!?**

**Don Orbit: Haha! Yeah, that's what everyone says. After all Elroe Gastruch are known to use rot attribute attacks to defend themselves. Even then they taste as foul it would make most monsters rather vomit and thus they are only eaten when they are really desperate.**

**Ogretail: I ACTUALLY TOOK DAMAGE FROM THIS, YOU BAST- (lunges at the author with a wide open mouth)**

**Don Orbit: (smashes his hammer across their face again and knocks the aragami out) Thanks for reading. Stay tuned and I hope we will see each other next time. (puts a small sign on the Elroe Gastruch reading "Have a nice day." as the insect simply minded its own business, crawling over the unconscious ogretail)**


	3. Chapter 2

**Happy New Year 2020 everyone! Well I kinda said that already, but this is the first real story chapter uploaded for this year. Well of a short Story, but nonetheless a chapter. It took longer than expected to write this down, so thank you for your Patience. And without further ado, let's get started.**

Chapter 2 - Time to Eat

* * *

I stared into the empty air before me as I repeated this voice's "message" (as I'd call it) over and over again in my head.

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Aquired skill [Stealth LV 1]}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Aquired skill [Fear Resistance LV 1]}

...

Uh...What now?

I really couldn't make heads or tails out of what this voice in my mind had said. I had apprently "aquired skills", though I don't really know what to make out of that, by doing something as I tried to not wander mindlessly through the city and find a better hideout than behind the remains of some wall in an otherwise barren landscape. Walking around with my mind in the clouds could actually end in something worse than the close to death experience I just had been through with those apes.

Ugh… perhaps if my memories from my past life wouldn't be as full with holes as the ruins around me, I might be able to at least place those words.

Hello? Is this the service hotline? I got a technical malfunction to report on one of your products... Wait, what's a service hotline to begin with?

AGH! I hate the fact that I can't recall anything with some sort of common sense! There are just words and pictures in there plus some scraps of memories excluding me getting run over by a car! I may as well call an eggplant an elephant, despite having a gut feeling that it would be completely wrong! Ugh!? Focus on the matter at hand dammit!

Anyway, I basically stood there in the middle of nowhere staring into the empty space before me and trying to actually make some sense out of this. This is what basically what very intensive thinking looks like my friends. In the back of my mind, however, I felt something familiar about this message. I had no idea where or how, but it sounded very familiar to be honest as if I had read something similiar to this text dozens of times already.

Now that I think about it, I kinda have repeated those words by now at least a dozen times in my head already. But that isn't what I meant!

I dropped my head at this. What was I even doing? Perhaps the hunger made me completely insane now. It's not like something is just going to appear that shows me what this all means if I was to say something like status and HOLY SHIT SOMETHING ACTUALLY APPEARED!? I jumped back in surprise when suddenly a window of some sort popped up in front of my mind's eye, which made me jump backwards in surprise.

More surprisingly I managed to read what was written on the window before me, despite the fact that I had no idea how to read in the first place. Kinda hard to picture, but then again this whole situation of me, a former human being (or at least I think I was one) being reborn as some sort of monster in a destroyed world with giant monsters and people fighting with those **things **as weapons against them makes no sense in the first place.

So I read what the windows said.

{"Nameless" Aragami LV 1}

{Skill Points: 100}

Nameless Aragami? Is that supposed to be... me? I actually felt like crying now as I suddenly found at least a term to recognize myself in. Until now I had no idea what I was, so you can probably not understand the relief of suddenly finding a sense of self. Perhaps it was due to a remnant of my human past that I wanted to at least be able to say what I am. Imagine that, you are asked what you are and you simply couldn't answer because no one ever told you. Even though I had no idea what else I had to expect as an aragami. Well other than being crushed to death and being eaten by bigger creatures like that group I joined in the beginning.

But what's with those "skill points"? Didn't I just aquire skills from hidding from those human hunters and those **things **they wielded as weapons? As if the panel in my mind had listened to my question, it suddenly opened a very, very long list of words I could barely make any sense of as the list scrolled down the list and kept scrolling, not giving me the chance to actually read it at all. What the hell? I just want to look at what is on this list and yet this window keeps going down and

STOP! I said as the list stopped. And then the voice came back.

{Skill [Appraisal] chosen. Necessary Skill Points to Aquired skill: 100. Aquire skill?}

Huh? Huh! Wait a minute dammit!

So if I get this right, I can exchange these points for skills like those I just got. Mhm… Maybe I should just take this one… You know what? I'll just go with it.

'One [Appraisal] skill, pretty please.' I thought in my most adorable sounding voice that I could think off right now.

{Skill Appraisal LV1] aquired. Remaining Skill Points:0.}

One new skill for me. Alright then, this [Appraisal] skill… I had a gut feeling that it might be useful. Or at least I hoped so. From what I understood appraising meant as much as analyzing, so could it mean that this skill could give me information about something? There were more question like what these things called HP or MP were, but I'd focus later on that. For now I turned to a random rock laying on the ground. I really wanted to smirk like some sort of demon in this moment, but unfortunately that was another thing my body was incapable off. Nevermind. The constant slasher grin the others of my kind had on their face all the time was more than enough to compensate for that. Prepare for my special attack rock! [Appraisal]!

{[Rock].}

...

...

...

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? THAT'S ALL THIS THING DOES!? WHAT KIND OF A USELESS SKILL IS THAT!?

Wait a damn minute, I didn't want to exchange my all points in some random useless skill you landed on! Give me back my points, you shitty roulette! If this was some sort of vending machine, that just ate my money and gave me something I had not ordered and not even given me exchange, I'd be kicking it and shacking it out of frustration in hope to break it, but unfortunately for me this thing seemed to have no physical form lacking arms.

My complains were left unanswered or ignored at this point. Instead it was just me standing there in this wasteland. What the hell was wrong with this world!?

As I screeched that in my head and roared in unparalled fury at nothing I began to break chunks out of the wall I had been hiding behind during the ape incident (a historical event in my life, I may add) by slamming my body against it or shooting my spikes at it, before grabbing some rocks with my mouth and starting to just throw them around like an angry child throwing a tantrum. Right now I was not caring how immature I was or how embarrassing it would be from the human perspective in that moment. I couldn't care less at all! I had perhaps just wasted a lot of valuable rescources for nothing and it might get me into another situation as the one before. I just needed to blow off that steam inside me.

But then the same voice that caused this ruckus within me spoke up again, making me freeze in my movement.

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Aquired skill [Hit LV 1]}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Aquired skill [Throw LV 1]}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Aquired skill [Expel LV 1]}

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Aquired skill [Anger LV 1]}

Okay screw you for the last one, but the other things looked useful. Apparently if I did certain things I could actually gain them as skills. And LV 1 from my personal understanding usually meant that it could go up further. So perhaps if I repeated the same actions over and over again, I could actually get better in them. Basically that sounded logical as training was actually nothing different. However, with my current course of misunderstandings and bad luck I might as well be wrong. I needed something to confirm my theory.

Looking down I took a very deep breath as I was about to do something very stupid, that might not even be worth the trouble and humiliation at all. Looked down at the ground and used [Appraisal] over and over again or the 7 page [Appraisal].

[Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]! [Appraisal]!

I always got back the same responses. {[Sand]. [Sand]. [Sand]. [Rock]. [Sand]…} You get what I mean. A headache in my skull and the sudden feeling of dizzyness really made me want to stop right away. But after what felt like eternity for me though I'm pretty sure it was not even nearly as long the voice in my head suddenly returned.

{Proficiency has reached the required level. [Appraisal LV 1] has leveled up to [Appraisal LV 2]}

Success! Ugh, though to what price? My head felt like spinning and my stomach region felt like it was going to implode. Standing alone was almost impossible as I wobbled from one side to another. I couldn't tell up from down or left from right. The voice shouting words like sand and stone before were still ringing through my head. Eventually I stopped wobbling around... when I triped over a tiny rock by simply grazing it with one of my feet.

I still don't dare to stand up again. My head's still ringing and my vision is still spinning. I need a moment to regain my senses here. And why the hell does some sort of song or melody resurface from my memories? Agh! Whatever! I may as well lay here until I don't feel like rotating like a car's Wheel anymore. After a minute or so I finally got to stand normally again. Now I just have to appraise something with this newly leveled up skill. Let's try again on that rock. I wanted to laugh evilly at this stupid rock. Prepare to be appraised. [Appraisal]!

{[Concrete].}

...

...

...

SUCCESS!? TAKE THAT WORLD! I'LL SURVIVE!

I wanted to jump in joy and cry my eyes out, but once more this body seemed to be incapable of the latter thing. Then I reached the conclusion.

So if I train my skills by using them a lot, I actually get better in them! Well I couldn't do much with the fact that it now said [Concrete] instead of [Rock] itself, but since it told me what it was in more detail than before perhaps I could later use that for my advantage. For example, if I wanted to know whether something was dangerous or not, which I couldn't exactly judge by the appearance alone given my lack of memory.

Gah! This stupid memory of mine! My memories are fuzzier than the hair on my back and I only can use those as an example, because the rest of my memories are pretty much nonexistent! Ugh… It doesn't matter... I'm pretty sure if my memory was fully functioning, it wouldn't have changed a thing. Sure I might be able to do something that humans were normally be capable of doing like recalling things from their memories or reading words, but given the things, that happened to me so far, I doubt my memories would have done any good to me.

It was then when a loud sound in the distance made my head snap into the direction of the source. It came from the skyline and the buildings behind it and was followed by the roars of the creatures that looked like myself. Now that I thought about it, those things always walked around in groups and when that giant cat massacred them without even breaking a sweat I had learned that they are basically weak like myself.

Still, waiting here for something else to happen was probably not the best thing I could do, so I walk towards the source of this ruckus, but more carefully than last time. As I walked around the empty streets, I couldn't help but nervously look around my surroundings. Those ape-like monsters from before had used that ruin as their home. And right now, I was pretty much surrounded by such decaying structures all around me. I honestly didn't want to, but if that was a normal thing in this world then staying in the middle of this city was as bad as staying out there on the field where there was no protection or chance to hide.

Once more the memory of that giant scorpion fighting the giant cat creature resurfaced in my head. Those things were huge and extremely powerful in comparison to something like myself. Even those apes, who had attacked in a large pack had been much stronger than I had been and I only managed to outrun them thanks to the humans back there. Slowly the feeling of dread in my guts began to grow further and further as I was once again reminded of the powerlessness of my kind. And so far everything I encountered was more than capable of tearing those things into shreds with their bare Hands.

What if I really was part of the bottom of this strange world's food chain? In that case, I may as well lay down and wait to be eaten...

No! Screw that! I did not survive for so long just to drown myself in melancholy now! If I see another monster that tries to eat me, I'll not run away.

Fully determined with that in mind I kept walking further down the street until the strange noise returned echoing from further ahead, eroding said determination away as I jumped to the side into some abandoned ruin. I stood still and looked outside once more, but saw nothing. Now that was weird. It must have come from further ahead then. Looks like I'm gonna investigate this case then.

Finally I reached the end of the road and spotted four more members of my kind, but strangely they didn't paid any mind to me as they were busy growling and roaring up into the air. I looked up and spotted those what they were roaring at. It was a really weird flying creature.

Not because it looked strange like everything that I've seen so far in this world, but rather because subconsciously my mind was flooded with impressions, despite my lack of knowledge. Because of that I actually had no right to call anything here weird or strange in the slightest. It was only weird from my own perspective on things and what I found weird might as well be very normal. However, neither the giant cat nor the scorpion knight, the ape-like monsters or my own kind had left me with such a strong feeling of weirdness as what I looked at right now.

The creature that the other aragami were roaring at was almost completely egg-shaped. Its body was mainly brown in color and a large yellow eye sat on what I presumed to be the forehead. That was not all however. The second part of the creature was pale in a light shade of gray like ash. It looked like a human woman having fused with the brown egg-like body while arms and legs were nonexistent. Instead the lower part was almost tube shaped, while what seemed to be the arms extended into wings as it seemed. A strange Image of a human Woman with a fish tail shot through my mind for a moment. What was it called? A... mermaid? Could one eat those?

Gah! What am I thinking about such useless things right now? I can just get information much easier, though somehow I had some hesitation in me about using it. Now that I thought about it, I never have used this skill on something alive yet. Oh well, there was a first time to anything, I guess. Let's see what the second level of [Appraisal] can do. [Appraisal]!

{"Nameless" Zygote LV1}

Zygote huh? The word sounds familiar, but unfortunately my lack of memories from my human life once more doesn't help me with that... Oh, I can appraise the species as well.

{A small type of flying aragami, that usually travel in small groups as they are relatively weak. They usually attack by diving down towards prey. They are also capably of attacking with poison.}

...

Aha!

I don't get it at all!

I want to spread my arms into the air at this realisation and shout out into the world without a single shred a shame "I am stupid!"

Earlier my own appraisal said that I was an aragami, but now it says this Zygote as it was called was a type of aragami themselves. I got to check something really quick. And by checking I mean appraising myself again.

{"Nameless" Ogretail LV1}

Oh, the kind changed from "Aragami" to "Ogretail". Now I see. Like the [Apraisal] skill only showed something trivial at LV1, it became more specific on LV2 not only with inanimated objects, but also with the different creatures. As such it would now make a difference between different rocks like concrete and sandstone and aragami like Ogretail and Zygote. Looks like this [Appraisal] skill actually deserves a lot of praise for that.

Sorry for calling you useless before. It shall never happen again!

But wait! Did the [Appraisal] skill just say attacks with poison and travels in groups?

The multitude of sounds of Zygotes overlapping each other above me confirmed my suspicions. There was not just one, but four Zygotes at once and all of them glared at the other Ogretails and myself. No wait. They were all glaring at ME alone and where swooping down towards me. Nope, my Ogretail senses are tingling! So I quickly ran towards the others of my kind. Not that I'm a coward, but taking on for of those at once might be a bit much.

Not to mention that as I turned around to see whether I was followed or not, the egg-like bodies split in half, splitting the woman like body at the front into an upper and lower half and revealing a massive mouth with sharp teeth. Yeah, but no. I doon't actually look forward to be eaten today! Somebody help! I let out a shriek and the other Ogretails seemed to have understood as they came towards me. Still while I ran, those Zygotes kept gaining on me. One of them even almost managed to snap its jaws at my tail! Nope nope nope nope!

Then a volley of white spikes soared through the air and embedded themselves into the closest of the Zygotes as the flock scattered around, but stayed a few meters higher in the air. The other Ogretails must have attacked. Thank you my brothers! I owe you one! But unfortunately the danger was not over. While both groups of aragami roared at one another, neither of them backed down. Instead the Zygotes kept hovering in the air.

And then I noticed something off. One of the zygotes swung its tail towards us and in the next moment some sort of purplish projectile shot out. Instinctively I jumped away, but the attack was not meant for me in the first place as it hit another one, which shrieked up in pain. What the hell was that? No, focus on the matter at hand. The other Ogretails tried shooting spikes at the airborne enemy, but they kept dodging. Dammit! For something that big, they were surprisingly hard to hit.

Then my eyes fell on the one who got the most spikes earlier. The one that almost bit me in my tail plate. Its movements were more sluggish and it was keeping a further distance from the rest. I don't know what exactly went through my head in that moment as I sprinted towards the wounded Zygote, roaring in challenge. The airborne aragami answered in kind as it swooped down to take a bite out of me. In that moment, time seemed to slow down once more.

I could see it. The menacing yellow eye. The wide open mouth. The human decoy-like body. The droplets of salvia dripping from its lipless jaws. I didn't care. All I cared for was to sidestep before it was too late. The enemy attack missed and thus its back was fully exposed.

Alright you flying exhobist. Let's see how you like some accupuncture! [Expel]! My tail basically moved on its own as I gave the mental command to use that skill. The spikes on my tail plate separated from my body and went flying towards the backside of the Zygote... ONLY TO COMPLETELY MISS!? AHH! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? IT WAS A POINT BLANK SHOT! AND I STILL MISSED! WHY DO I GOT SUCH A STUPID BAD LUCK!?

...Wait. If all my spikes missed, why was it falling then? Then I see its flank. My spikes must have damaged its wings a bit as they were now bloody stumps. The Zygote wobbled in its flight, desperately trying to keep its body airborne, but failing and finally falling into the ground rather ungracefully. Unfortunately for it, it would not get up anymore. As if fell it was still moving with high speed from its swoop attempt towards me and with that into the general direction of the other Ogretails, which took notice of the falling aragami immediately. What followed was them dogpiling on the still living Zygote and tearing it apart with their jaws as they kept it grounded. The sounds of blood splattering and flesh tearing as well as the dying cries of the Zygote tore through the air, while I simply stood there, watching the others turning that enemy into a pile of bloody flesh.

Then the other Zygotes hovered away. Apparently witnessing that one of their own was killed had made them lose their bravado to attack. I finally let out a sigh of relief. With the danger being over, I felt my body calm down again. It was luck that it had been just such monsters and not that giant tiger or that scorpion knight I met at the beginning. If it had been them, they would just have torn through all of us and I'd not have had the slightest chance to fight.

Looks like that creatures on the bottom of the food chain eat other bottom feeders themselves. Well it does make sense especially since except that I only got to see other Ogretails munching on either carcasses of already dead beings or whatever was laying around. Looks like my type wasn't really picky.

Speaking of being picky when eating, I was still starving as the reminder of this made the sensation return, hitting me like a truck head on (given that I technically could sing a song about that). If the bottomless pit in my stomach could have gotten any deeper, it just did as the other ogretails were still busy eating themselves. And so I approached the others. They only glanced at me for a moment, before returning to their meal, happily feasting on the killed Zygote's body once it was clear I was a fellow Ogretail and probably meant no trouble.

Can't really blame them for that though. My previous pack was killed for not being super attentive to their surroundings after all. I took my place amongst them and looked down at the carcass. Most of them were Eating from the egg-like main Body and wings, leaving only the human-like Body untouched so far.

I really felt like swallowing a lump in my throat at this. If I really had been a human being before, I was just about to eat something that looked at lot like one. Unease spread through my stomach, but the hunger was stronger. Whatever this would be like, I was Ready for it. And so all I could do was lung Forward with my wide open mouth and close the jaws around the flesh as blood sprayed from the torn flesh onto the ground.

**Chew**

**Chew**

**Chew**

...

I personally had no idea what to expect, but for some odd reason I seemed to have no problem chewing on the human-like half of this aragami. I had no idea whether that was good or bad, but it did feel odd for me and I could tell that I was supposed to be… something, but I had no idea what.

Digusted? Eager? Uncomfortable? Maybe even excited? I shouldnt Focus on that. Because of that I actually missed the flavor of my food. But my stomach was not satisfied with one single bite.

And so I finally took another bite out of it, trying to Focus on the flavor this time. Perhaps that would make it easier to eat and calm my mind a bit down.

…

…

…It tastes bland…

I chew a little on it… still bland…

I lick it… still bland…

I bite a rock next to me on the ground… bland…

The blood, the skin, the flesh… absolutely nothing! It was as if I was actually chewing on something made out of plastic. The flesh of this aragami simply had no taste at all! Or perhaps my body had a tongue that had no taste buds? I couldn't tell for sure. However, I became sure of one thing as my sharp teeth tore through the Zygote's flesh and my jaws ripped pieces out of the carcass…

I begin to really miss my taste buds. My memories might be gone, but my mind was sure that I should at least taste something. ANYTHING BUT THIS!? It wasn't even like I could enjoy the sensation of it in my mouth as my mind was more focusing on eating more and more. What has my life come to? Once I must have had access to the whole variety of different tastes from bad to magnificent and now I my body couldn't even taste dirt. My mouth probably would have enjoyed the sensation on anything else once upon a lifetime, but now it was only made to get more and more into my throat. Life is so unfair...

Today REALLY isn't my day, huh?

**THUMP**

I suddenly heard a noise from further away. Unlike the other Ogretails, I look up fromt he feeding frenzy in front of me and stare forward.

**THUMP**

Again! This time stronger and closer. I had a really bad feeling about this. Taking a few steps away from the carcass, I recalled my first pack of Ogretails dying by that giant cat's claws before my eyes and a dreadful feeling of deja vu was announcing itself in my head.

**THUMP**

It looked like my suspicion was correct as once again a meal of us bottom feeders was interrupted when suddenly something, I had not seen before came from a street up ahead. As I took in its appearance multiple images from my past life flooded my brain, trying to conclude the best way to actually describe what I was looking at. It looked like a strange combination of a centaur and a tank. Well if someone would have decided to give a normal tank a centaur-like body as it looked all wrong in my opinion. The legs were literally those chains a tank uses and in my mind I was just asking myself how this thing could even move in the first place.

The most disturbing thing however was its upper body. It looked like a mumefied human corpse stuck on top of the body as hollow black eyeholes turned towards me and my fellow Ogretails, who finally stopped eating to see the incoming danger.

Okay, you got this. Let's just see what this thing is. [Appraisal]!

...Naiive. I was so naiive.

{"Nameless" Quadriga LV 13}

{A tank-like large sized aragami. It has formidable defenses and powerful attacks with very long range.}

...I really wish I wouldn't have seen that and instead just run away from the start. I have never been able to actually see the other stats of the other aragai around me, but LV 13 must mean really a lot of power when me and the other Ogretails around here were only LV 1 or 2.

And as if to add Insult to injury to my suddenly realization that I couldn't taste anything, whether it was flesh or dirt a giant aragami has appeared, most likely ready to kill me in a heartbeat. It began to march towards us. It didn't take a genius to tell that this thing was bad news. It wasn't just the level, but with every other creature thus far trying to kill and/or eat me, I really had a bad Feeling about this one. And on top of that, this thing looked even more menacingly than that giant cat!

The other Ogretails then began to take a step or two towards the Quadriga, roaring in challenge at it and not wanting to Hand over the killed Zygote to this giant mechanical looking creature. It simply stood there with its hollow eyesockets locked onto the roaring ogretails. Every part of my body screamed at me to run for it, yet I found myself unable to turn around as the being before my eyes was staring right back at me.

Plus there were the others now as well. They kinda saved my life, so I might have gotten a Little bit attached to them. No, this time I'm not going to run. If I could take on that Zygote, then this would also work out just fine right.

...Once more. I was so incredibly naiive.

One of the 4 other Ogretails broke out from the formation and charged right at the Quadriga. Then on the back of the tank-like entity two mechanical arms folded out and then a volley of about a dozens missiles flew right into the brave ogretail. The small aragami gave only a last cry of pain as it was drowned in a massive explosion. As the dust settled, there was only a large crater in its wake, leaving not even a body behind as it must have been devoured completely by the explosion.

Hey?

Are you serious?

Are you really being serious just now?

That thing can actually shoot missiles that and could just... disintegrate any of my kind?

To my horror, the Quadriga turned its attention towards the other ogretails, who had fallen silent, and myself. And for some odd reason, it was for me as if the skeleton-like upper Body was smiling at us.

Okay, I retract my statement from earlier. I'M DEFINITELY GOING TO RUN AWAY FROM THAT THING!?

And so I once more ran for my life, but this time there were more of my kind around on the run. As if only waiting for us to run, the Quadriga made use of its centaur like body and dashed towards us with much greater speed than what you would expect froma creature as big and heavy as itself.

**THUMP ****THUMP ****THUMP ****THUMP ****THUMP THUMP**

Each step the Quadriga took make the ground shake under its weight, making running even harder than it already was.

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Aquired skill [Running LV 1]}

Oh now I get this skill, but not when a horde of monkeys was chasing me? Are you kidding me? What am I even doing? NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO ARGUE WITH THAT VOICE!?

**SPLAT**

A pained cry from a fellow Ogretail and a loud splatting sound made me turn around for a moment. And what I saw could only be called a pile of deformed flesh in a crater. Apparently the Quadriga had simply stepped on one of them and crushed it flat. One more reason to run like hell!

The remaining 2 Ogretails and I kept running as the hissing sound of missiles ran through our ears. Quickly I turned around only to see the head of a Missile narrowly missing the outline of my chin as it flew past me and hit the ground a few meters away with a loud explosion. Unfortunately, the ogretail at the very back was not that lucky as it was killed just like the other two. The Quadriga didn't give up. It simply kept chasing me and the other ogretail. Seriously, what was this thing's deal? If it was just killing us and not eating us, then I ask myself why it was doing so?

Doesn't matter. I then noticed a large hole in a building up ahead to our left. The shocks of the Quadriga's steps became stronger and I swore I heard how the mechanical rear parts folded out again to unleash more missiles. There was no time to lose! Quickly breaking out to the left, I charged right towards the hole. The ogretail behind me followed, but the Quadriga had apparently not counted for the two of us to change directions as it seemed to slam ist legs into the ground below and skitting further due to its speed, unable to suddenly change directions.

The hole was just a few meters away when I heard now for real how the Quadriga started to run towards us with its missile launchers ready to fire. Using my tail like a spring, I catapulted myself into the air and at the same time, the Quadriga fired. I couldn't afford to look back. The fear to be hit while being airborne was to great and even greater was the fear of missing the hole. I couldn't see what was happening with the other Ogretail. But I did know one thing.

'I don't want to die!'

This thought alone rang through my head as my feet finally touched the ground of the building's floor where the hole was. The jump was made, but the missiles were still coming. Before anything else could happen, an explosion behind me occured and I was thrown deeper into the building, before I landed harshly onto the ground.

It hurts. It hurts so incredibly much. It felt like my backside had been scorched. My legs hurt even more as they took most of the blunt force of my fall. Numbed by pain I only noticed the other missiles hitting the area around the hole and a bit deeper by the bright light the explosions emitted as well as the dust that was kicked into the air. Then there was a rumbling that shook me to the core. Not just by ist intensity, but also by the shockeaves travelling through the ground I laid on. Then I realized what was happening. Dust began to rain down alongside small pebbles. And following were larger rocks. The entire building was collapsing.

Whatever survival instincts remained in my body, that was wounded and numb by pain, kicked in and forced it on its feet to at least get out of that building before it would become my grave. Heading deeper inside to exit it through the otherside like back then with those apes. It would be the same.

Then the ceiling came crashing down upon me. And then there was darkness. Only darkness.

* * *

**Timeskip**

...

...

I had no idea for how long was unconcious. The moment I woke up, it felt like my head was exploding on the inside while I was pinned down to the ground by some heavy weight. Slowly as my control over my body returned I managed to open my eyes. Everything was blurry and dark. It was as if I was trying to look with my eyes full with water. Forms and colors seemed off and distorted. Eventually everything rearranged itself back to normal and I saw, that I saw nothing but rubble. I was inside the rubble! How did this even… Ah right, the building collapsed. As soon as I realized that I worked on getting out. Easier said that done with all somewhat useful limbs being crushed beneath most likely tons of concrete. Yet, my body seemed to be fine from that.

Well except the burn on my leg and back. Thanks for that you damn Quadriga! I'll get you back for this...later. Now I have to get out of here.

Immediately I started to push myself up with my legs, but the burn caused me to flinch in pain. Okay, straining the injured right leg was a no then. But the left one seems fine and I got my tail still. I started wiggling as fast as I could. I needed to make room and push out of this thing. Centimeter for centimeter I kept pushing until finally the rocks before me fell down and sound of rocks falling onto the ground filled my nonexistent ears.

And before I knew it, my head poked out of the rubble. As I looked around myself, I saw that it was dark outside, yet I had no trouble seeing at all. The moon shone brightly in the night sky alongside many stars. I asked myself for a moment how I did know These Things, but I guess that was my human memory. When it came to trivial things like moon and stars it was there, but when I needed something useful it was filled with more holes than those damn ruins. Of course!

I wanted to sigh so bad, but my eyes looked down and saw something else. I was not on the same street as before. Instead I must have come out the other side of the building. But that wasn't what caught my eyes. An Ogretail, but it was not moving and laying on the ground. It must have been the other one from that pack that fled alongside me. Was it... dead? Only one way to find out, [Appraisal]!

{[Corpse of an Ogretail].}

So it was dead, but not eaten, huh? Looking around I saw nothing that could have killed it. Once again the feeling of hunger filled my mind. Great! I just had the worst meal of my life and the worst run of my life and now I was hungry again. Now that I thought about it, eating that Zygote had not filled my stomach at all nor did it satisfy my hunger. It was as if it just disappeared without any effect! Are you telling me I will always be hungry? Seriously, what was it with this constant feeling of being starved to death!?

I wiggled a bit more and suddenly I felt my body shift forward. Then I hit the ground with my face and fell onto the ground below with a loud thud.  
Okay, not the best landing I admit, but not the worst either.

Getting up from the ground again, I hissed in pain as I put some weight on my right leg. Great, still burnt. I may as well try to hop on my left leg and not to fall over like when I learned how to walk. My hunger painfully tore me out of my thoughts as my eyes were immediately on the dead Ogretail again. And then my mouth began to water. I came to a conclusion.

Sitting here and thinking about my wounds won't change anything. Actions needed to be taken and that fast!

Walking to the carcass of the fellow Ogretail. I still wondered what had caused it to die, but I couldn't think about that right now. The only thought in my mind in that moment was to consume. I'm sorry good fellow, but for my continued survival I have to devour your body. Please forgive me for this one. Without much hesitation I then bit down on a dead Ogretail.

...And I almost threw up.

Bad. Bad! Really damn bad! URGH! WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS HOLY WAS THAT GROSS TASTE!? I can't even find words to describe this horrific taste or begin to search for words or make up new ones as it was so bad that my entire chain of thought was snapped in half by this overwhelming sensation of disgust. I then notice that the pain in my leg became less. Putting it on the ground normally, I only felt a slight sting, but not the same unbearable pain as before.

I looked down on the dead Ogretail from which I had taken out a bite with a shaking gaze. Sure having my leg healed would be pretty neat. But it seemed that would mean that I'd need to eat even more of...that... I felt like standing on the edge of an endless abyss. Either I stop and keep going with a semi-healed leg or... I keep digging in... Shakingly I opened my mouth again. And took another bite out.

...

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Aquired title [Kin Eater]}

{Aquired skills [Taboo LV 1] & [Heretic Magic LV 1] as a result of title [Kin Eater]}

...

I didn't hear the message in my head.

The after taste in my mouth was just... too much… I wished that I could throw up...

The whole thing. I had eaten the entire body of my fellow Ogretail. Even that strange orb that was in its body for some reason, but my mouth was faster than my head. I was healed, but to what price? Apparently my appettite as even though my hunger had not disappeared at all and still demanded more, my will to eat was completely gone now.

So I am either eating something without taste or I cannibalize on my kin, which tastes more disgusting than anything I had ever in my mouth?

This was so unfair. There had been a dead Body before me that would have turned anytime soon into those mots of orange light and leave nothing and I couldn't enjoy eating it because it tasted like...like... WHAT WAS THAT UNHOLY TASTE IN MY MOUTH! Ugh! It's still in my throat!

I really needed to focus on something else… Like what to do now?

I had no companions again and it was nightime. I had no idea what that meant in this place and I wasn't sure if I did like that. Not to mention that this Ogretail that I ate… Ugh, I had a feeling of nausea by just thinking about it... must have been killed not that long ago. I may have not spotted who or what it was, but I most certaintly didn't look forward on meeting them.

But apparently they did look forward to add me to the pile of corpses as suddenly something sent tremors through the ground. I took several steps back feeling the ground shake beneath my feet. And then I saw it. Something emerged from the ground a few meters away. It looked brown and had ovale shaped to say at best. A human like face looked back at me, but it was unmoving like a statue.

Was that also a monster? Better appraising it now than being sorry later.

{"Nameless Cocoon Maiden LV 1}

{A small sized aragami. Immobile during the day it moves during the night underground. It attacks with fast projectiles and spikes.}

I see. I see. Wait did it just say fast projectiles?

As if my thoughts were audible to anyone, the head of the Cocoon Maiden changed into a flower-like structure and then shot out something I'd describe as a bright ball of energy. I had not enough time to dodge as it hit me right in the face, sending me staggering backwards. Damn that hurt! Good thing, my head is covered in hard bone like plates. Who knows, how much more damage that thing would have made then?

Quickly running to the side, another projectile missed and hit the rubble behind me. Geez, why was everything in this world trying to kill me? Can't I get something more friendly as company for once? Is that really asking too much?!

The Cocoon Maiden fired another shot, but missed again as I drew closer. Fine, if this Thing wanted to play, I would play with them until they'd break! [Expel]! A row of spikes was sent flying at the other aragami, but once more I missed. This time without even grazing it. I really needed to make a mental note to practice aiming later- GAH! My face! That thing just hit me in the face again!

Grrr! Okay, no more Mister Nice Ogretail! I ran right towards it and smacked my tail against it. I heard something crack in that moment and I wanted to grin as now I'd have had a shit-eating grin on my face. Take that you stupid thing. You and your chest armor can't do anything.

That was when the body suddenly lifted itself into the air a little and many spikes shot out from underneath it in all directions around the Cocoon Maiden. I screamed in pain as one or two of those spikes pierced through my leg. Bastard! I will make you pay. I smashed my tail into the Cocoon Maiden's back this time, causing the aragami to almost hit the ground, but it simply got up again. Seriously, what was this thing and why was it not falling down?

That is what I asked myself as the chest suddenly opened before my eyes. Immediately sensing the danger, I brought my tail down and catapulted myself with a leap backwards when many long spikes shot out, which without doubt would have made it through my plated head. As I landed, I hit the ground first with my injured leg, causing me to yelp out in pain and fall down again.

Grrr! Now I was really mad. The Cocoon Maiden shot another attack at me as all I could do to dodge was literally to roll over. Once my feet where beneath me again, I shot up and charged at the enemy again. I needed to take that stupid thing down, otherwise I'll end up like that other Ogretail. The Cocoon Maiden fired another shot as I jumped sideways. This thing was dangerous. Not as dangerous as larger monsters, but it was still formidable in close and long range combat. However, my previous attacks told me that its defenses were not the best.

I had to exploit that!

Running around the immobile aragami, I dodged the shots it fired at me, only hitting rubble and the ground. That was until I decided to lung forward right after another shot was fired. I came from the Cocoon Maiden's right and bit down right on its midsection. My mouth was barely large enough for that. Yeah, try extending those spikes again without spening your chest or pulling your body up again! I'll tear you into shreds. The Cocoon Maiden struggled as my feet scrapped against the ground. Trying to keep that things chest closed and pushing it down all with one mouth and no arms was not that easy. Not to mention that it was surprisingly strong for something looking so unassuming. At the same time I bit down harder and harder as I heard my teeth digging down into the Cocoon Maiden's carapace.

Eventually, the force was enough to shatter the maiden's chest and blood sprayed from the new wound. I let got and jumped backwards as the Cocoon Maiden turned slowly towards me. Its movements were now sluggish and strange like that of a broken toy. Then its head and body fell fowards, but not onto the ground as the root was basically keeping it in upright position. The chest armor hung open a little like the unclosed doors of a cabinet. It didn't move anymore.

Was that it? Was it done?

[Appraisal]!

{[Corpse of an Cocoon Maiden].}

...

...

YES! My first enemy slain, baby!

I kept cheering for a small moment until my hunger made a return even stronger than before. God did I hate the fact that my hunger would always have the last word and ruining the moment, but this time I'd ignore it. I just managed to kill and fight for myself. If that wasn't something, I wouldn't know what is. But yes, I'd need to eat something after a tiring battle like that.

I bit down on the freshly killed Cocoon Maiden to finally see what victory tasted like.

...

Victory tastes awfully bland.

I swear Victory never had been this tasteless before.

At least my assumption was correct.

TODAY REALLY WASN'T MY DAY AT ALL!?

* * *

**Ogretail: (laying in the corner crying over the fact that they had no tastebuds)**

**Don Orbit: (sweatdropping) I never thought they would take it that badly.**

**Ogretail: (still crying)**

**Don Orbit: (puts a blanket, a mug of tea as well as a plate with cookies on their back) They would make a good coffee table now though. (looks at the still rolling tears and stained floor) Then again they are ruining the carpet… (door opens normally this time) Huh?**

**A certain spider reincarnator: Oh hi there!**

**Don Orbit: Well, well, well. I didn't expect you here Kumoko. But I even expected less that the day would come that someone wouldn't kick my door in to get here.**

**Kumoko: (sweatdrops) Huh? Does that happen that often?**

**Don Orbit: (frozen in time as flashbacks fill their mind as modem noises can be heard)**

**Kumoko: (visible confusion before looking at the new coffee table/crying ogretail) What's with them?**

**Don Orbit: (snapping out of flashbacks) They got reincarnated just like you a day ago and they discovered that they can't taste anything or it tastes horrible.**

**Kumoko: Oh... (walks over, before giving the ogretail headpats) Don't worry. I know exactly how that feels.**

**Ogretail: (sniffs) Really? (╥﹏╥)**

**Kumoko: Yes, really. (-_-);**

**Ogretail: (cries even harder, leaning against Kumoko) Thanks onee-san!**

**Kumoko: Huh? |˚–˚|?**

**Don Orbit: Good to see that you are able to make friends once the language barrier is lifted, Kumoko. Mmpfh!? (gets hit by Kumo-Morningstar in the face, before the thread wraps around their mouth, preventing them from speaking if it wasn't for them to be already knocked out)**

**Kumoko: (climbs on top of the ogretail/coffee table and starts eating and drinking) Ah! Delish! That hits the spot just right.（⌒_⌒）(looks at the audience) Hey you may as well go now. There's nothing else going to happen soon. I'll just get the remains of that guy's Christmas Food and raid the fridge. So have a nice day! (waves away as she accidentally grabs the Elroe Gastruch from the last omake and bites on it only to reel back) BLURGH! (✖﹏✖) (Drops down from the ogretail on the ground where she keeps twitching but with foam in front of her mouth. A complete knockout!  
****Meanwhile, the Gastruch was minding its own business, chewing on the cookies with delightful clicking of its mandibles)**


	4. Chapter 3

**A quick question and answer round to things of the last chapter.**

**Q: Why was it such a strange way of the ogretail to acquire the Appraisal skill?**

**A: First of all, I found it funny, though the original was pretty funny as well there. Second, they couldn't have come around with the isekai transition and videogame knowledge which is normal to us as we at least have heard them.**

**Q: What was the reason for the unbearable taste of fellow Ogretails?**

**A: Aragami in God Eater usually do not attack others of their own kind due to their bias factor. As such I simply used it as an opportunity to make life a bit harder for our aragami friend by not only finding himself unable to taste anything, but also to have this sort of rejection from his body when it comes to cannibalism.**

**Q: Why did I not add the HP, MP and SP values of our protagonist into the last chapter?  
**

**A: I was really lazy, okay? I know that.**

**But aside from that, I'm not quite sure what kind of values it would have to begin with. Sure the stats of Kumoko's initial form as a Lesser Small Taratect were barely in the two digit area, but she was a newborn back there in a world where an actual ecosystem consisting a large variety of creatures exist. Aragami are not like the normal food chain given their physical traits, which outmatch any other normal living being. They do have one with the Ogretail sitting at the very bottom. As such not only would some monsters of that universe be unable to harm an aragami without some really powerful magic. So their values would probably not astronomically high, but they'd be quite resistant to normal damage. **

* * *

Chapter 3 - To Become Be Something Greater

The sun rose at the horizon as its red and orange rays of light painted the eastern sides of the ruins into a warm brighter color. As for myself I was inside some ruin and laying down to rest. After having eaten that Cocoon Maiden, I had wandered the empty streets in the dead of the night, before I managed to slip inside. Luckily that was before whatever creatures, that patrol the streets at night found me.

How did I know about those things if I wasn't outside to see them and slept soundly, you ask?

Hahaha... Sleeping soundly, yeah that's what I did.. AS IF!?

Throughout the whole night there had been so much noises coming from outside, that I couldn't even close my eyes when I finally found myself a comfortable pillar to lean against! Imagine to rest after probably the most stressful day in your life and get woken up every 5 seconds by another deafening roar. My body might not actually be exhausted, but with me being already mentally at my limits after my first day as a mons- Ogretail, I really would have liked some sleep!  
Damn I really need to stop refering to aragami as monsters.

Most of them had been far away in the distance and I'm pretty sure that I've not encountered anything that made such noises in the first place yet (and hopefully never will) but they had been so loud as if whatever had made those sounds had done right into my nonexistent ears, shaking me to the very core of my being. That and they were mostly accompanied by the dying cries of other Ogretails further in the distance.

After that sleepless night, I'm very confident, that being outside at night was perhaps not the best idea...  
Who am I kidding? THAT EXPERIENCE ON ITS OWN WAS A MASSIVE DEATH FLAG FOR ME RIGHT THERE!

I already saw how powerless my kind was in comparison to all the other aragami around me as almost every other encounter with another kind became a life and death situation witin seconds. I really didn't want to think about it, but bow there isn't even the slightest hope that all these events had been just something like a bad dream! With other words, the situation for lil'old me is just hopeless.

No! I must not despair! I will definitely survive! I will so definitely survive that I'll watch everything else go extinct before I die if necessary. Yeah, positive thoughts! Bring it new day! I might not even had slept for a single godforsaken moment as I had to be on guard for the case something came inside this ruin, but I'd tackle every opportunity that would come today head on! So come and bring it world! Throw your worst at me!

"RRRRROOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR!" The loud and (hopefully) distant roar shook the ruin and I quickly felt my confidence erode into nothingness.

I already got a bad feeling about today and the sun is barely out. I really wished I could just get back in bed and sleep...  
IF I HAD ONE!

* * *

_A couple of hours later_

The sun stood now higher in the sky and the colors of red and orange had made way for the light blue as I had left the ruin I had spent the night in and went to find something to eat.

Still being depraved of any sleep or rest, I could feel the pit in my stomach growing bigger once again. I hate this constant feeling of hunger nagging me, even if it was the motivation for me to get up. I wished I could just... turn it off and go outside when I thought it to be right. Instead it was my stomach that decided my course of actions, which my head should be doing.

I had tried to supress it, but I ultimately failed. Shame washed over my mind even though I was not quite sure why. After all, I had given it my all, even starting to bit out chunks of concrete from the pillar, that I had leaned against when I tried to sleep. Though before I knew it there wasn't much left of that pillar as I apparently completely devoured it.

Honestly, I must have forgotten about it. I just ate the concrete as a night time snack to somehow fill the void in my stomach, but apparently my hunger is truly like a bottomless pit. That and the fact, that no matter what I did put in my mouth everything just tasted the same. If I wasn't paying attention I could probably even forget about the feelings of texture, temperature and hardness as well. My hunger just shut all those sensations down.

I didn't want to, but with that hunger driving my forward, I couldn't stay for long. Otherwise I may as well end up eating more of the supporting pillars of the ruin and burry myself under tons of rubble again. And I couldn't help, but ask myself what would happen when I would leave for the outside world and what I should do then? After some time brooding over what to do once outside a familiar voice appeared in my head.

{Proficiency has reached the required level. Aquired Skill [Clairvoyance LV 1]}

...

...

Are you serious right now?

I just gained a skill by simply thinking about the possible future rather than physically doing something? That was a weird experience. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that. In the night, I also checked my status and also saw that I did have a skill called [Nightvision], which probably explains why I can see in the dead of night in the first place, though with all that noise last night, I doubt there was something without it out there. Also I noted that [Nightvision] had no LV behind its name.

Apparently there are also abilities that simply didn't have multiple levels. Whether that's good or bad, is something I can't say for sure yet.

After yesterday I at least was not that helpless anymore.

And so began a new day for me as I once more roamed the abandoned streets of the city around me. Yes, today would be a good day. I could feel it.

*BOOOM*

A loud explosion broke my morning's tranquility once more when right before me a large ruin collapses and something simply smashed right through it. Immediately I look around and found a corner to hide behind. Before I knew it I was already behind it. Haha... Looks like my instinct to run away from danger was actually working faster than my actual thinking. Carefully I listened as a foreign roar echoed through the street and the sounds of a fight reach my ears. Then I actually peeked out of my corner and took a look as I was greeted by familiar sight.

The scorpion knight! No, it might be another one of that kind, but it was one for sure nonetheless! It appeared to be hunting something as it closed its arms, combining the shields on its arms to the scary skull like visage as some sort of liquid projectile hit it.

As a loud roar rang through the air, I snapped my head towards the source at the scorpion's feet. It appeared to be something between a fish and...I don't exactly know what else. A frog maybe? It had a giant mouth filled with large razor-sharp teeth, while a relatively small pair of red eyes was just barely above the mouthline. If it wasn't for it staying still, I may as well would have assumed that it didn't have any eyes at all. It also seemed to have a very Long nose, while was tumbe shaped. The arms, the only visible limbs I could make out, seemed to be covered in a mixture of scales and fur.

Yeah, definitely not a frog.

Before I could keep asking questions to myself, the battle continued. The smaller aragami crawled with ist two front limbs quickly around, trying to round the scorpion Knight and avoiding the large stinger. The larger aragami lost ist patience and charged with ist mouth wide open to devour the smaller one, however its prey was fast, dodging the giant. As it missed its target and crashed into another building, the knight like aragami had its back turned on the smaller. Then the fish like aragami did something new.

Out of its tube like nose a projectile made of some liquid I presume shot with great speed against its opponent's back, making it shriek in pain and hiss in fury as it turned around. I almost didn't even see the attack. If it had not been for the smaller aragami to stop and align its nose with its target and the distance between the two of them, all I'd have seen would be a suddenly wounded larger aragami. From my position I however managed to see the whole thing. Whatever was shot out of the aragami's nose had moved so incredibly fast.

Then it shot again, but this time the alrger aragami brought the two halves of the skill like forearms together forming a large skull like shield with red glowing eyes. The projectile hit the shield, but other than splashing against it and shaking it a little, the effect had been null. Again the smaller aragami shot, but again the shield held strong as the scorpion slowly advanced towards its prey. The fact that it was moving at such a slow pace and held its tail ready to attack during this advance made the sight only more menacingly to behold. It simply took those shots head on now as if they were nothing.

Uwaah~ I really can't help, but think that this looks really cool.

No, wait! Now is not the time to admire and check out those two predators that could easily tear me apart. Instead I should check them out in another way since they haven't noticed my presence yet. Here goes my [Appraisal]!

{"Nameless" Borg Camlann LV 11}

{A large sized kind of aragami with good qualities in defense and close range combat. It primary weapon is the stinger at the tip of the tail.}

That's it? Huh... that was strange. The time it fought the giant feline, it shot those helmet-like spikes around its head like missiles, but the appraisal doesn't mention them at all. But being good in offense and defence was an understatement. The Borg Camlann simply took those shots as if its nothing.

Oh well, let's see what the other got.

{"Nameless" Gboro-Gboro LV 5}

{An middle sized amphibious aragami. It shoots projectiles from its long horn with great speed.}

Yeah, I kinda saw that already. Is there really nothing else to this thing? I kinda doubt it has those giant tusks just for show, you know? Its ranged attack clearly was faster than that Cocoon Maiden's attack last night. Still, having comfirmation that it is specialized in attacking from further away is just more reassuring that I better never cross the path of one of those things. My ranged attacks were already really limited with those spikes on my tail with [Expel].

Given the difference in power and range of our attacks, if it would be really come to a showdown at high noon or something between that land fish thing and me...

BANG!

I'd definitely be shot first! It's entire body is basically a gun with legs and teeth!

URGH! Why must everything else be specialized in some form of combat and so much stronger than myself, while I'm stuck as something that apparently only had a chance of surviving by living in groups and ganging up on other aragami that were also really weak?

BOOOM!

ROAR!

Oh right, the battle isn't over yet. I didn't really follow with me being caught up in my jealous thoughts. Or rather now it was over.

The Gboro-Gboro died impaled on the Borg Camlann's stinger as it gave a last screeching cry, before slumbing down on the ground lifelessly. As the scorpion-like aragami pulled out its tail from the fish like creature, I couldn't help but wince a little at the splattering sound of blood being spilled and the snapping muscles being torn apart. I'll not stay here any longer however. Goodbye, giant scorpion Knight and enjoy your meal. While you dig into that thing, I'll make sure to put as much distance between us so I'm not the next one on your menu for dessert. Later~

And so I once more ran away as fast as I could to get as far as possible away from that apex predator. After a while of crossing a couple of roads and slipping through the gaps of weathered ruins, I came to a stop and calmed down as I saw nothing that had followed me. I could still see the tall building I had slept in last night in the distance, but it was quite far away now. Well, it wasn't like I wanted to go back there anyway. I am again in foreign territory, but then again everything was still foreign for me starting with this body and stopping with this world.

And as I kept walking further through this ruined world, these thoughts never left my mind. Seriously, what the hell happened? Something inside me told me that the very existence of these aragami, which I now was part off somehow went against how things used to be. And that means a lot from someone like me who doesn't even know whether they were a guy or girl back then. It wasn't really a memory of mine that told me that, but rather a gut feeling. I had a feeling that the aragami simply had not been a thing when I was alive during my previous life.

So what had changed? What had brought forth these almost nightmarish beings? What happened to mankind? And why was I here?

The more I thought about those questions, the more I became irritated as I couldn't figure out the answer to them. I was barely alive for a single day and I had already dodged death more often that I'm comfortable with.

Then I suddenly felt something like an electric shock running through my head. All alerts in my head started ringing and instinctively I stopped dead in my tracks. Before my mind's eye I suddenly saw images of myself and... I was ...impaled? What the he-?! As if on cue, the ground started to shake. Quickly I shook out of my daze as I instinctively jumped back.

And not even a second later the ground I used to stand on exploded upwards, sending rocks and dirt flying as something emerged from the underground. What crawled out was something actually looking somewhat similiar to me.

It was about my size and stood on two legs, however that was already where the similiarities between myself and that creature stopped. Its head was relatively small in comparison to its round body. The entire body was covered in a deep green insect-like carapace, save for a single white claw as a toe and foot and the head were a small grey colored face was located with round red eyes and a small mouth. The most prominent trait this creature had however was the blade like horn on top of its head, which was easily twice the size of the head itself.

The unknown insect like being growled and hissed at me with its unmoving bug-like eyes fixed on me. Let's check what this thing is.

{"Nameless" Dreadpike LV 1}

{A small aragami with a beetle-like carapace, that attacks with its large horn. It can also use it bury itself underground and launch an ambush on unsuspecting prey.}

Whoa! So my new [Clairvoyance] just managed to save my skin in less than 12 hours after requiring it? Now that's something I call a useful skill!

Back to the now aragami named Dreadpike before me. It growled and hissed, but made no attempt to run away. Did it want to fight? What a rotten luck I had today in the morning. However with the two of us being in a rather confined place of an alley between the ruins running was out of question. If I turned around this thing would just attack my backside. So the only way was forward.

I roared loudly right into the Dreadpike's face, but other than taking a small step backwards it only growled back. Dammit! And here I thought I could just intimidate this thing. Mentally I sighed. It Looks like I had no choice but to fight.

Once more I used [Appraisal], but this time I looked for something else.

{"Nameless" Dreadpike LV 1}

{HP 65/65}

{MP 13/15}

{SP -/-}

Those were the stats of this aragami. Apparently other beings had that too as I myself had discovered this Feature by looking at my own status last night. One thing I did notice however was that for some reason the SP or Stamina Points had no value for some reason. Whether this was a Thing amongst all aragami or not was something I had to investigate later. Unfortunately most higher level aragami I tried tp peep on didn't allow me to look at their stats. Instead, I'd always receive the same message from the voice in my head.

{Status Appraisal Failed}

That actually was something I just couldn't find positively in any way. When I was looking at my own status last night I of course also checked on what HP and MP were. Basically HP or Health Points displayed the physical condition of a being. When wounded they would lose HP and when they hit 0, a living being died. The same was not the case for MP. Magic Points were used to perform skills and something called Magic. That word did Sound familiar, but I had no idea what that meant. I can only blame my lack of memories for that.

There were other stats next to these three as well such as Offensive, Defensive, Magic, Resistance and Speed, which had rather obvious meanings safe for Defensive and Resistance. I mean, why was there two stats when both was apparently meant to be the defensive? I didn't exactly look into that I admit, but back to the point.

From what I could tell, this Dreadpike had not only more HP, but also higher Defensive and Resistance stats than I had, however in terms of Speed and Offensive I was superior. Sure, in this place my speed was not able to be used to its fullest potential, but perhaps I could just bite my way through. The creature before me was also inhibited in its movement. It may had no Long tail like I did, but it only had the large blade like horn on its head, which was probably used to ram its opponents.

Its mouthline might be sharp, but it was relatively small, so it shouldn't be able to bite unless it somehow managed to get close to be from above and even then could only bite down on that much. The horn was long, sharp and curved upwards. Attacking from above was therefore out of question. If I tried to jump that thing I'd just get myself impaled on that horn. That left only the flanks and the back of the creature, which I couldn't really reach from my position. In that regard that aragami had all the field advantage. Basically it was a wall with one large spike which it would use to impale its prey. A simple, but effective startegy.

However there was one thing that aragami has not taken into account here.

Eat this, [Expel]! I sent the spikes on my tail flying and for only a few MP, the large white spikes soared through the air and hit the Dreadpike head on. The green armored aragami roared in irritation and pain as if flinched backwards. My spikes simply fell to the ground after this attack, unable to pierce through the carapace and lodge themselves into its flesh, but they left a mark on the aragami.

{HP 61/65}

The damage was less than I had hoped for, but it would do. Unfortunately I could not use that strategy indefinitely as it also consumed my MP.

{MP: 17/20}

Yup, that confirmed it. If every shot of [Expel] would cost me 3 MP I'd only have 5 or 6 more depending how fast it would Regenerate. At that this thing would lose about 20 more HP, but still have 40 to go with, while I couldn't shoot anymore. And then it would be me against them without a way to fight back. I needed to solve that problem otherwise I'd get killed.

I fire another salvo of Spikes at the dreadpike with [Expel], but this time the other aragami actually jumped back making my attack miss. Tch! That damn beetle! Stay still so I can kill you dammit!

That was when the Dreadpike released a screech like hiss and charged Forward. I was caught off guard. I had not expected it to suddenly Switch from defense into offense. Dammit, I have to dodge!

*THUMP*

My mind stopped right in its tracks. It was as if time had stopped for a Moment as I saw something before me I had not expected. The Dreadpike had only crossed a very small distance, which I could cross with just two steps, before it had collapsed on the ground.

...

Really now? That whole charge only to fall on your face after less than one step. Honestly, I felt a little bit of pity for this insectoid aragami... BUT NOT EVEN CLOSE ENOUGH TO NOT TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ITS MISFORTUNE! EAT THIS, [EXPEL]!

Two volleys of spikes was sent flying at the grounded aragami as it screeched in pain while the spikes it its back, head and legs, actually doing more damage to the aragami, probably since one of the spikes lodged itself into the not armored cheek of the creature.

{HP 45/65}

It was still on two thirds of its health though. I still needed to attack it more to kill it. The bug-like aragami stood up once more as it now stepped forward and swung its bladed head towards me as if in attempt to skewer me. Taking a step backwards and firing another [Expel] salvo at the Dreadpike were more than enough to counteract. It tried to advance again and was met with the same pattern, but this time one of my spikes lodged itself into the aragami's eyes, destroying it and making the creature rear back and screech in pain.

{HP 29/65}

Wow... that did more damage than I thought it would. Now the Dreadpike was trashing around in pain, blind on its right side. I had an idea at this. As it was busy withering in pain and turned away from me, I lunged forward with my open jaws and bit down the right leg of the Dreadpike. My teeth failed to actually break through the carapace, but I got a good grip on the aragami as it screeched in pain and panic, unable to turn its body on just one leg. Pulling its leg eventually made the Dreadpike fall to the ground. I released the leg and bit down on its back where the horn couldn't reach me. Meanwhile I kept observing the decreasing HP of my enemy. Looks like that my attacks still dealt damage

{HP 24/65}

Yes, almost there...But why was I still sensing danger?

Suddenly pain exploded in my chest as something sliced through my right side from underneath. Forced to release my prey, I looked down and saw a second Dreadpike emerging from the ground as its large horn was in my underside.

Oh... So that's why I still felt danger... There was another one...

I jumped back as fast as I could as my feet were still on the ground and immediately regretted my decisions as the pain basically blossomed in my body from just moving and stretching the skin and muscles around my wound. My body felt numb and my head a little dizzy from the pain while I saw how the other Dreadpike stood by its comerade's side screeching at me. The injured Dreadpike managed to get back on its feet and joined the other to hiss at me.

GAAAHHHH!? IT HURT! IT HURT SO GODDAMN MUCH! WHAT THE HELL!

Calm down! Calm down... I got to pull myself together. Dammit, that attack got me good... Rage filled my mind. Rage towards both my attacker for attacking in the first place and myself for not being able to dodge or defend myself against this ambush.

Now I was mad. Taking a look at my own HP I saw that I had taken quite some damage there.

{HP 37/50}

That was bad, but I was too angry to care about that a third of my HP got cut off with that surprise attack. The pain in my underside was incredibly strong. It felt as if my entire body was on fire as I was unable to drown the sensation out. I wanted to just lay down, trash on the ground and wait until it stopped hurting so much, but in this situation that would hardly be possible with those two Dreadpikes advancing towards me. Let's see what we got here.

{"Nameless" Dreadpike LV 1}

{HP 65/65}

{MP 11/15}

{SP -/-}

It had the same stats as the other, but unlike it this one seemed to have used up more MP recently. Perhaps that would explain why it was able to surprise attack him by leaping out of the underground. Still with its HP being full was going to be a problem if not handled right.

This whole situation irritates me to no end! I was just minding my business and they started a fight. There was no way to run and hide and no way that they'd actually let me leave even if I tried to. There was just the way forward and for that those two would need to go. Well congratulations you two beetle-like idiots, now I'm pissed!

The two Dreadpikes began advancing towards me, letting out screeching hisses and growls from their tiny mouths, but honestly I can't care less. In response I roared back once . The Dreadpikes then walked towards me as the uninjured one stepped forward, while the wounded one was in the back and did nothing, but observe. That was fine by me when the healthier one charged at me. With a quick step backwards, I got out of range and the Dreadpike fell flat on its stomach like the other before. However now with it on the ground, I had a free line to fire.

With a short roar I unleashed my last shot of [Expel] and hit only the already weakened Dreadpike, though it wasn't enough to kill it. It screeched in pain and laid onto the ground, clearly needing a moment to get back up again. Unfortunately for it, I was not taking chances here. Charging forward I ran over to the uninjured Dreadpike, which tried to get up in time only for me to slam my foot down as hard as I could as I used it as a spring and flew straight at the injured Dreadpike in the back.

It had not even the time to scream in panic when I closed my jaws around it's throat and held it down with one foot like a bird of prey would do after having swooped down to its prey. It trashed around, but I held it firmly between my teeth, before ripping its throat out with my teeth. Blood flew out of the dying aragami's body and splashed into my face, but I couldn't care less. After all I couldn't taste at all, which made it feel like water to me only a bit more sticky.

A short roar behind me reminded me of the other Dreadpike as it turned around in the alley and began walking towards me. Unfortunately, I with my long tail couldn't do so, but that was fine as I simply ran out of the alley, leaving the dead Dreadpike there while the other one followed me out into the open. That was a bad idea for it as now I was no longer restrained in my movement and could now turn around as well.

Now both of us were basically fighting on more even ground with me being able to utilize my superior agility to overcome the Dreadpike's superior defenses.

Unfortunately, so low now that even with the recovery over time I only had one last shot to use [Expel] onto this aragami. I had yet to test the costs for my other skills, but I'll definitely bring this Dreadpike down even without ranged combat if necessary!

{"Nameless" Dreadpike LV 1}

{HP: 64/65}

{MP: 12/15}

Huh... I have to admit I expected more damage to be done to this aragami after stepping onto it. Apparently it had a good defense. However, I was sure that now I knew about its weaknesses and how to exploit them to the fullest.

The insect-like aragami walked towards me, before breaking into a charge at close distance. Not a bad strategy, but only as long as your opponent can't move faster than you. With a sidestep I let the aragami pass me by harmlessly as I quickly bit down onto its leg. The Dreadpike screeched in pain, but was cut short as I now began to pour my strength into my legs and swung my head sideways, throwing the Dreadpike to the ground. Unlike before however I started to drag the beetle-like creature across the ground as my teeth dug themselves deeper into the carapace the more pressure I applied unto it. Like a shark I refused to let go and swung my head sideways as the Dreadpike couldn't even do anything to free itself as it failed to put the other foot onto the ground as it was trapped between the ground and its own fallen body.

*CRACK*

My nonexistent hear heard how something snapped and I felt a warm and wet sensation in my mouth. The Dreadpike screamed in pain now as my teeth had managed to pierce through the upper layer of the carapace and draw blood.

Then I got hit by the same foot I was holding unto with a viscious kick to my flank, hitting me right in the slash wound this bastard of an insect dealt me earlier.

Roaring in pain I was forced to let go. Damn that stung a lot. That was a low blow dammit!

My opponent got up, but barely could put any weight onto its leg. Yet it stood there, its hateful crimson eyes fixed on me as I returned the favor. I was not recommending this being for fighting the pain. It had brought this all to itself for attacking me. It took a few steps backwards, before charging towards me and jumping into the air. It didn't got far, but when it hit the ground it suddenly burrowed itself into the ground.

Tch! So that's how they get underground then. Just my luck. However, I doubt that this thing would run away. No, it was most likely aim to attack from below again because it had worked before as well. Once more a Feeling like a shock shot through my brain as I could clearly see in my mind's eye how the Dreadpike was going to emerge. This time I immediately jumped backwards and only three seconds later it came out.

Those seconds was all I needed. While the dreadpike emerged from the ground with only one actually functional leg to lift it above ground again, I charged forward and closed my jaws around the unprotected head of the Dreadpike. My teeth didn't grab the thrat, but the face of the creature as my teeth pierced right through the eyes of the Dreadpike, making it screech loudly and trash violently as it tried desperately to get out of my grip, but it was useless. The unarmored part of its body provided way less resistance against me and so I could get a stable footing onto the ground.

Let's see if you can fly you sucker, [Throw]!

Using my head, neck and legs, it twisted my body around and let go of the now blind Dreadpike as I threw it a few meters away from me, while it landed onto the ground screeching in pain. Yeah how do you like that? I thought to myself as I walked over to it. It was still alive as it tried to roll onto itsfeet, but couldn't. Especially not with one of my feet on its flank, pinning it down.

{HP 4/65}

This was it. I bit down one last time its head and tore the head right off the body, killing the creature instantly without anymore pain. Dropping the bladed head, I finally allowed myself to take deep breaths. That fight sure did a number on me.

{HP 29/50}

{MP 0/20}

...when did I lose more HP? Wait, why does my tongue hurt so much? Grazing it against my teeth, I came to a realization. That damn Dreadpike bit off my tongue when I grabbed its head earlier! I must not have noticed in that total mess. That damn... Huh?

I was thrown out of my mental rant when my body suddenly began to glow in a soft yellow-orange and motts of light ascended from my Body. It looked like when one of those aragami corpses dissolved after death. Was I...disintegrating?

...

OH NO!

WHY WAS THAT HAPPENING?

I DON'T WANT TO DISAPPEAR!

WHY CAN'T I STOP THIS?

Well, looks like that's it... I'm gonna join the others now... Bye bye awful ruined town...

That were my last thoughts as the light died down.

...

...

Huh?

I blinked. I was still there.

I blinked again. Nothing had changed around me.

To my feet was still a dead Dreadpike. But something did change. My pain was gone. I felt no fatigue or anything at all from the battle.

What was that?

{Experience has reached the required level. Ogretail has increased from LV 1 to LV 2.}

...

Excuse me what now?

...

Hey wait! What does that mean?

... Only silence answered my question.

And I was alone again... and hungry.

I sighed at this. My wounds and pain were gone, but what did this increase in level mean.

I checked onto my status and almost jumped backwards.

{"Nameless" Ogretail LV 2}

{HP 52/52}

{MP 21/21}

Not just my HP and MP had increased but my other stats as well. Well it was only slightly higher now, but when I thought back on how tough that Dreadpike was just now, coming closer to that level seemed actually quite good.

Yeah, not only my skills can become better, but also my body as whole!

*GROWL*

And my stomach crashes the party by being hungry again.

REALLY NOW?

With a mental sigh I started to devour the killed Dreadpike while the other body was already dissolving. What a shame, but then again it tasted like nothing at all.

* * *

_Later that day_

I kept wandering the ruins of the city, but other than another unfortunate Cocoon Maiden I didn't pick up another fight today. Honestly, all that fighting was taking a toll on my mind already. It just felt so Alien and surreal and yet it was real. I guess I'll have to get used to this sort of thing.

As I wandered around, my mind travelled back to the humans I had seen yesterday. Those guys who wielded those... abominations as weapons. I still had no idea where they came from or if I even wanted to go and seek them out. After all, they just cut down those apes as if they were nothing. And I was no longer human myself. I was an aragami myself.

But I also don't want to stay here like that! I want to lay down and laze around! Why is live so unfair right now?

Well looks like it doesn't matter in the slightest what I think about this new life of mine. I'm now just a Monster that just devours everything around itself. Probably I couldn't even contain my hunger if I would go near them.

Now I had to live out here with all the other things and avoid to get eaten. However, even though I was determined to stay alive and not give up, I also had my doubts. Would it really be so bad if i would just die? No one would care and anything. it would be the end all over again. Given that i don't exactly remember what happened between my death and my rebirth here, I couldn't even call death a bad thing.

As I kept walking I arrived into a larger open area where I saw a much larger group of Ogretails roaming around. It was not just one of the small packs with only a few members, but these were at least a dozen of them. Maybe even 2 dozen ogretails. Some were lumbering around, looking for something edible, while others laid on the ground and being lazy.

Okay what the hell is going on? Did I just go crazy or what?

I walked closer to the others as they noticed my presence a few looked at me lazily as if they didn't care. Others gave a short roar, though I was unsure wheter it was meant as a greeting or a warning. It was then when I saw something further away among the other Ogretails. It was an Ogretail as well... but at the same time it wasn't.

First of all, it was slightly larger. Normally all Ogretails I saw so far were literally the same without any unique features to tell an individual of the big mass apart from the other. That includes myself as well as I also had no unique features or a different height compared to the other ones.

Next and more obviously was that it looked completely different from the others. Its armor was not white but a dark shade of yellow, almost golden I'd say. The body was a bit taller than the average Ogretail. It's head also had a more pointy head crest, almost like a spike. The appearance in general really reminded me of that large cat monster. And the large crest on the tail also looked very different as it was both bigger and much more complex in appearance. It actually looked a little like one of those cat monsters. The strange Ogretail noticed me, but did nothing before simply returning to looking for food.

Looks like it doesn't mind me being around in the distance. Alright then, let's see what we got here.

{"Nameless" Vajratail LV 4}

{Status Appraisal Failed}

{The result of an Ogretail devouring a large amount of Vajra cores. Like a Vajra, it can generate electricity to attack.}

My mind returned the large feline monster I had seen on my first day as an Ogretail when I remembered how it also had used lightning and electricity to fight.

...

I was standing therer as if rooted to the spot as thousands of thoughts rained down my mind at once.

Wait a minute! Hold up just for a moment and don't lose that thought!

Are you telling me this was an Ogretail like all the others around here and it simply became like this by eating those spheres inside the aragami? Wouldn't that mean that an Ogretail like myself could basically take up the traits of any other aragami species as long as they eat the necessary amount of cores?

My mind went overdrive at this thought as I recalled absolutely every kind of aragami I have come across so far.

Vajra, those ape things, Zygote, Quadriga, Cocoon Maiden, Borg Camlann, Gboro-Gboro, Dreadpike...

All these different kinds of beings had something I lacked or were at least in one thing better than I was. Stronger bodies, stronger attacks, better defenses, longer range and more powerful abilities. And this Ogretail, no Vajratail had somehow managed to take the abilities of those Vajras and make them its own.

I don't exactly know the name of the feeling that overcame my mind as I couldn't help, but imagine in what kind of ways I could possibly evolve myself if I just got my nonexistent hands on enough cores.

The possibilities... They were basically endless! Just imagine that!

That I told myself as all sorts of additions and changes on my body popped up in my mind including me perhaps having a pair of front limbs again. Oh or perhaps that Borg Camlann's armor. Or that Quadriga's rocket launchers... THAT WOULD BE SO COOL!?

I made up my mind! I'd definitely survive in this world and I refuse to die until I have not become an aragami strong enough to take on every other that I may encounter. They can all come if they want to. I'll take them all head on and devour them! That's my new goal for my life in this messed up world.

*BOOM*

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud sound behind me as my mental guts pose was replaced by a deadpan look.

Why do I have a bad feeling about this? O_O;

I turned around to see how one of those large apes had suddenly entered the area and had apparently attacked one of the Ogretails that strayed from the majority of the pack. The white reptilian aragami struggled to get up, but the golden ape-like being gave it no opportunity to as it simply tore the Ogretail apart with its large muscular arms before leaving with its fresh kill.

I felt a pit form in my stomach and not one out of hunger, but from overwhelming fear as my happy mood from a moment ago was ruined.

How am I supposed to take on other aragami if I already get almost killed by just 2 Dreadpikes and every other aragami can just tear me into pieces like that?!

If this is some sort of joke by some god, IT'S NOT FUNNY AT ALL!

* * *

Meanwhile in a far away place, a young-looking woman was sitting on a couch and watched TV. Next to her was an open bag with potato chips and to her feet was a large bottle of soda right in her reach.

The woman herself was actually quite pretty. A tall black-haired japanese girl in a highschool uniform looked rather bored into her TV where one could watch how a bunch of knights fought against large frogs and dinosaur-like reptiles. The truth behind this fantasty "show" was that it was no show or movie at all. What this woman watched where the events, that took place in another world right in that moment.

This woman was the goddess of the end, D. And she simply liked to watch the misery of others or perhaps to cause it as well. Not too long ago (from her perspective at least), the Demon King and the Hero of that world, the dual titles of those who lead the faction of humans and monsters in that world banded together and fired their strongest attacks at D to defeat her.

That however failed miserably as D deflected the attack. And while both the Hero and the Demon King died from this combined attack, the blow itself was still so potent that in another called Earth it caused a massive explosion in a japanese highschool. The resulting explosion killed everyone in the one classroom it went off and no one knew why this had happened.

And so D began to reincarnate those souls one by one into that world. Some appeared earlier and others later. The age difference between two of these reincarnators could be surprisingly high when taking into consideration that they technically all died at the same time. But D had no hurry in reincarnating every single one of them and simply enjoyed watching these new pieces on the board that was that world to struggle, suffer or claim victory.  
All in all, she only did it to cure her boredom.

However, during this event another soul was brought before her and she carelessly reincarnated it, before discarding it.

This however had unexpected consequences. First of all, the soul never reached that world despite the fact that it had access to the RPG-like system she had created for the fun of it.

And that was where the second problem lay. The system was simply not meant to strech itself over several worlds at once. However D also was not allowed to directly interfere and thus she was now stuck with this one soul in another world even she didn't know anything about.

D simply zapped through the channels of her TV until she eventually found a certain Ogretail reincarnator. While doing so she couldn't help but smile. Not because she was entertained, but rather by the change of the background for once. After watching basically the History and Fantasy for quite some time, a bit of variation was perhaps not so bad-  
She still needed to hide her mistake from her superiors though. They could really be such a pain for her sometimes.

* * *

**Don Orbit: Well and that was the last chapter of "I'm an Ogretail, so what?".**

**Ogretail: WAIT WHAT?!**

**Don Orbit: (ignores the outburst) Thanks for reading this short story and... (get's kicked in the face)**

**Ogretail: What the hell do you mean this was the last chapter?! I just found a goal I wanted to achieve in my life!**

**Don Orbit: Yes and I'm too lazy to write it down. After all, I'd have to somehow explain how you, an Ogretail would have managed to survive long enough to scavenge enough cores in that world to even get to the point of evolving into a higher type of aragami. Which in itself would be really strange in that universe as Vajratails themselves are already very rare. (gives the Ogretail a cheeky grin) And to be honest, I did plan to make you something that surpasses those by far.**

**Ogretail: You son of donkey! You had that planned the whole time, didn't you?**

**Don Orbit: (mock bows) Guilty as charged I admit.**

**Kumoko: Did you even had an idea what you wanted to make out of them?**

**Don Orbit: Sure did. (Summons a projector as it projects pictures on a wall) I wanted to use the assimiliative evolution of the Ogretail to justify their change into one much stronger aragami after eating the amount of many different cores necessary. A potential that Ogretails obviously never reach due to their predation by others.**

**Ogretail: Oh that's so cool! (Eyes the Pictures hidden from you readers... sorry, before turning to the author) But seriously, how many cores would I have had to eat to at least become one then?**

**Don Orbit: According to my calculations… (pulls out a calculator and begins typing a lot on it, before stopping) ...Yes.**

**Ogretail: In numbers, you bastard!**

**Don Orbit: (smiles smugly) I don't know. How many slices of bread do you think you have eaten in your past human life?**

**Ogretail: (Growls)**

**Kumoko: DIO!**

**Ogretail: What now?**

**Kumoko: (blushes furiously) Forget it!**

**Don Orbit: Hahaha! Oh don't act as if it would agitate you of all people. See Ogre-boy...**

**Ogretail: (irritated) Don't call me that...**

**Don Orbit: (ignores Ogre-boy) Our eight-legged friend here also wants to become something greater for her own needs, an arachne.**

**Ogretail: A what now?**

**Kumoko: A mythical being with the upper half of a human woman and the lower half of a spider. Maybe I could go and walk among the humans in my world then.**

**Ogretail: (realising what that would mean) Wow. Sounds nice to have such a form. I wish I would have such an evolution.**

**Don Orbit: (grins like a cheshire cat) Ho? You wish?**

**Ogretail: Why are you Looking at my like that? (Seriously weirded out)**

**Don Orbit: (takes the supercrown, before crushing it in his hand)**

**Ogretail: What are you doing? (feels his sins crawl on their back)**

**Don Orbit: (forms a pistol with his gands)**

**Ogretail: I got a really bad feeling about this.**

**Don Orbit: (A bright pink light forms at the fingertips forming the barrel)**

**Kumoko: Run away, you dolt!**

**Don Orbit: (fires the light at the ogretail, before it is engulfed in a bright blue light and explodes)**

**Kumoko: What the- Why did you kill them!?**

**Don Orbit: They are not dead. Look closer.**

**Ogretail: (the smoke begins to settle down revealing a being with the upper half of a human and the lower of an ogretail. It seems to have no visible features that would indicate its gender as it had a slender torso, no breasts, a delicate face with grey eyes and long and spiky blonde hair. It also possessed now two slender arms. (Basically an androgynous young man or woman) The lower half starting at the hips was the same as an Ogretail's, including thighs, legs and tail.) Wha- wha- (Looks around themselves) UWAAAHHH!?**

**Kumoko: Uh are they now a boy or a girl? (spoken like a Pokémon professor)**

**Don Orbit: Neither. Aragami have no gender and therefore can't reproduce sexually, so it was only natural that a humanized version or a centaur like version of an aragami would have no explict gender specific traits unless the type of aragami resembles a gender strong enough to do so such as Zygote, Sariel, Zeus, Venus, Dyaus Pita and Balfa Mata.**

**Ogretail: WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO ME!?**

**Don Orbit: You just said that you wished for such a human like form.**

**Ogretail: Yes, but like in an actual story. Not within the omake at the very end.**

**Don Orbit: Sorry. Can't help you with that.**

**Ogretail: At least you could have given me something stronger. I look really wimpy.**

**Don Orbit: Well as something without a gender you have neither too muscular nor too slender arms. Your face appears feminine, but your shoulders are broader than a womans, plus you have no breasts. Also you got no reproduction organs for obvious reasons. So basically you look like a person, who never experienced too much of puberty. (Claps hands as the ogretail turns back to its normal form) But anyway, since your story is over, I have no more use for you. It is too bad that we will never see that Re:Monster like assimilative evolution of yours. Your kind has that potential after all. But anyway, it's just too bad. (snaps fingers loudly)**

**Kumoko: (Looks around as nothing changed) Was something supposed to happen?**

**Don Orbit: (smirks)**

**Ogretail: Ugh- (groans in pain as they fall to the ground)**

**Kumoko: Hey. Hang in there.**

**Ogretail: Onee-san... I don't feel so good... (dissolves into dust)**

**Elroe Gastruch: (sad clicking noises before dissolving as well)**

**Kumoko: ... (Simply staring at the empty spot)**

**Don Orbit: And that's the end for most oneshot characters anyway. Now then (snaps fingers again as Kumoko is swallowed by a portal, which disappears as quickly as it came) since D has her favorite toy back now, it's time to say goodbye. I hope you enjoyed reading this short story. Again I do apologize for being currently unable to actually making this a whole story, but let's just say if you have not played God Eater at all and only can use the online sources and the anime as material it's a bit hard to get by.**

**Maybe I'll return to this story one day. Maybe I won't. I can't say for sure. For now I'll put up the complete status on it for the case I don't return. **

**That's all folks.**

**Have a nice day you all ;)**


End file.
